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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2009~The End of the Year...













but the road continues on......2009 in the rearview mirror....2010!!...so, as those who know me well might tell you, Im something of a bibliophile, a reader if you will...cue Bill Hicks bit..."Looks like we got ourselves a reader." So, I thought I'd post some of the books I read this year along with some music to accompany each book..sounds exciting, huh?






~Jeff Chang's "Cant Stop Wont Stop" is the book every hiphop historian wishes he couldve written. I mined this book for source material while writing my own short piece on hiphop and found Chang to be my guiding light through the rough and tumble boroughs of New York City. Chang, along with Robin D.G. Kelley, stands as the archivist and interpreter for the embattled hiphop nation.

B-Boys-Rock the House






~Aliester Crowley, the Great Beast, was a truly unique individual who engaged in all sorts of strange occultist activity. He was into yoga and the Kabbalah way before Madonna made such things en vogue...I first heard of Crowley over 10 years ago; I tracked down a book of his (Magick Without Tears, I believe) and found it utterly incomprehensible...this biography by Martin Booth entertains and informs...perhaps I'll revisit Crowley's work this year if time permits....

Mos Def-Supermagic





~A number of years ago, I was afforded the pleasure of meeting Dagoberto. We sat at the same dinner table at the wedding of a mutual friend. I knew he was a writer, but had yet to read any of his work...too bad b/c, as it turns out, he writes about the same three cities Ive called home---Los Angeles, El Paso and Austin. For me, reading Dagoberto is like reading a letter written by some not-too-distant relative. His English/Spanish word use and his subject matter seem ever-so familiar. I almost expected him to write at some point about Chicos Tacos in El Paso, or El Tepeyac in E. L.A. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from Dagoberto this coming year.

Grupo Fantasma-Cumbia del Coyote






"If He Hollers Let Him Go" by Chester Himes may very well be one of the great pieces of African-American literary art in America...Whereas Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and others appear in highschool textbooks, Himes gets left out for some reason (interracial sex)...whatever, I ran through this book in a few days, hungry for more from the mind of Himes. His books can be tough to find (at least where i shop), so if ya find one grab it.

Jay Electronica--Exhibit C (one of the best hiphop tracks of the year)






Rick Strassman's "DMT: The Spirit Molecule" found me; I was in the bookstore looking about, and there it was. I bought it, obviously, and devoured it (not literally-but you knew that). Strassman is a researcher at some university in New Mexico who began performing experiments with volunteers who he would give DMT to. The volunteers would undergo incredible experiences, many of them claiming that they felt as if they had died and left their body for good. The DMT users returned to their bodies safely, telling of strange realms filled with amazing colors, shapes, patterns, music, machines, and the tale of an occasional alien presence. Cool.

DJ Avatar--DreamingofMyToad






Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Buyin Old Records is a Habit....

but if I cant afford to pay, I'll just bag it...(not really though)...



~just came up on this one here...(mp3s to come--hold tight)...........found another great cumbia track on another record, gonna chop it up and turn it into some nasty tropical-krunk-goodness real soon like.......


~La Kabala---latin psychedelic soul out of Mexico, i believe...late 60's/ early 70s era stuff...real groovy and funky tunes...plus the covers something else.......check the link below for a taste of La Kabala.........
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La Kabala--El Cumbanchero

~whoa....

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I Got the Blues

~finished with my classes, time off from work...time to chill, enjoy some music, and make some music....


drummmmssss.....


Little Sonny_Hard Comin Up




classic cut...


Marlena Shaw_Blues Aint Nuthin but a Good Woman Gone Bad

Gil Scott Heron on the blues tip


and of course...Stevie Ray Vaughn

Monday, December 14, 2009

Wiz Khalifa--youngin on his grind~avatar refix

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as much as i try to focus on global/ethnic fusion music, im always tempted by a hiphop acapella to unleash a lil rap stress out my system...so here ya go...i actually cooked this up back in like '07, but who cares...right...

wizkhalifa_avatars u-so-gangsta-refix by dj avatar

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Some of that ol' Latin Funk ish.....

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Before this record was reissued, copies on ebay would sell for way more than I was ever willing to pay for a copy. Luckily, I got my hands a quality rip and saved some serious loot....Such a great record...couple of stand out tracks for me are Lupita, which you can check out on a mix I did--as well as the Rakim flip I threw over the break---and Ritual, an absolute scorching Latin Funk monster...B-boys take heed when this one gets dropped!!!

Nico Gomez--Ritual

~if memory serves, tracks 9 and 10 should be Lupita and the Rakim flip....


and while Im at it........I still rock my Cypress Hill tape I bought at Camelot Records back in like '91....and the shirt I got at Blondies too!!! Old skool ATX cats know whats up........

Monday, December 7, 2009

Cumbia, Electro, Reggae Minimix~Summer 2008









~uploaded this on Soundcloud recently~have a listen, download, stream, enjoy!!



MasCultura MiniMix by dj avatar

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Sand Painting

~this is so brilliant, any attempt to describe this would be futile...thanks to the sunshine girl for bringing this to my attention...;)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

South America~Inna Mellow Mood

~freezing cold approaches; sing a song in honor of the departed sun.....




Os Mutantes-Baby~Os Mutantes usually brings a heavy dose of Brasilian psychedelia to the table, complete with heavy fuzz, knockin drums, and spaced out vocals---this ones pretty laid back for them...but def worth checkin out...



Arthur Verocai-Caboclo~first heard this song on a Prefuse 73 sampler a couple years back; had no idea who it was, but I was really diggin it...lovin the spacy sound effects in the background; mellow goodness for the cold winter approachin...




Cesaria Evora-Sodade~this one comes off a Luaka Bop comp; Cesaria has a voice that just penetrates into the deepest recesses of your soul...you cant help but listen in awe...this song is just so raw and emotionally powerful---put this one on repeat

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Turkish Psych!!!!!!



Many are under the belief that San Francisco was the capital of psychedelic rock back in the 60s and 70s...Well, there was this place called Istanbul, Turkey, and they were on a whole 'nother level of psych-acid-rock fusion...






...Ive only discovered whats been comped so Im no elite source of knowledge here...but what Ive heard thus far is incredible....








...so many great tunes...what was up with Turkey?? Sure, we can only imagine the amount of psychedelic substances passing through Turkey making their way into the lucrative markets of Western Europe...Turkey is the bridge into Europe...thats what has made this little piece of land so valuable over the centuries...access to trade routes.....






...be sure to peep the videos below...Mavi Isiklar is a beast!!! and Baris Manco is simply put...that dude...he makes me envious that I was born 30 years too late in a city not Istanbul...



Mavi Isiklar--For Your Info




Baris Manco--Ben Bilirim