I guess since the weather here's a lil funky...I'll toss ya some links to funky tuneage down below as well...
Over the weekend I made a lil trip down to LA, I had intended to maybe catch some nightlife at the Smell where I saw that Mars Volta frontman Omar's new project Zechs Marquise was making the scene...
I don't know how it happenend but on Friday night I didn't make it much past my hotel...
After dinner and brews stumbling around the Japantown area ( mainly enjoying finger foods at Weiland's, and Chop Suey)... I got the idea to meet my lil' bro for drinks after he got out of The Laker game where he was putting away a half dozen or so free hospitality suite brews.
Where better to rendezvous than my hotel's 35th floor revolving cocktail lounge...
I loved watching this cyndrical glass coated hotel as kid when it was used as a "futuristic" backdrop for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century sci-fi series...
Now it's sorta old school...a 70's version of what was supposed to be the future...including futuristic lighted martini glasses.
But the cocktails are definitely old school...just with new school inflationary pricing...
Needless to say a couple rounds of specialty cocktails and $155 later... ( add in a cheese plate & the view I guess)...
We had the spins...literally and figuratively.
It was time to descend into the bowels of the hotel and find my room...
only problem was I had no idea what tower, or even floor I was in by that point...my unlabeled Westin key card was no help...
I kept slipping the card into various doors on various floors hoping for a green light...
All I could recall was that I was in the teens somewhere, maybe 14th floor or was it 17th... sorta near the elevator I think... but which elevator...
So after about half an hour of quality reality tv for closed circuit security camera enjoyment I decided I'd retire back to the bar in the lobby until last call. At least it was spot where if I was gonna get arrested it would be for annoying tourist couples from the midwest just by ordering beers they'd never heard of...Like I must assume Anchor Steam is some sort of secret to the masses, despite having been brewed continuously from 1896 until prohibition and then onward since the 1960's by rebel Maytag washer heir Fritz Maytag on the side of San Francisco's Potrero Hill...
L.A, though despite being more than 10x the size and population of San Francisco is not so lucky in the beer department, so mostly peoples drink yellowish swill...
I was lucky to find some Sam Adams while bar hopping downtown, but compared to the tasty barleywines Magnolia and Toronado in my
neighborhood were throwing around during Strong Beer Month... it was a sad situation.But one thing LA has though is a few bitchin' micro funk labels, like Stonesthrow and it's also home of the Kajmere label...
Stonesthrow's been around since the late 90's and gets a lot more attention, what with it's links to J Dilla, Peanut Butter Wolf etc...Stonesthrow also has subsidiary imprints Now-Again and Soul Cal that specialize in rare funk and soul re-issues.
Like this Cut Chemist remix that chops, mashes and slides through a buncha old school grooves heard on the label's seriously mandatory compilation Funky 16 Corners...
Cut Chemist - Bunky's Pick (7 Minutes and 48 Seconds of Funk)
or perhaps this bit of relatively obscure bit o' nappy Indianapolis funk delivered circa 75 by Amnesty... via the latest Stonesthrow / Now Again reissue..."Free Your Mind"
If ya get to this post on Tuesday Feb 27th... The track called Love Fades is the free eMusic mp3 download of the daybut any fan of the stuff put out via Stonesthrow might wanna check into Kajmere as well...
This Kajmere label was co-founded circa 2003 by "Loslito" Guaico, an LA scenester & member of Breakestra, and is another deep repository of gritty grooves...
So the next couple tracks I'm gonna lay on ya from them are worth a listen if ya have ears and possibly feet that can appreciate this sorta thang...
One of their most emphasized artists has been the Seattle based female soul singer Choklate...
On this track from Sound Volume 1 she is joined by Jurassic 5's voice of authority and hip hop royalty Chali 2na
Choklate w/ Chali 2na - Waiting
Choklate is on tour this spring in the dirty south & east coast & even Tejas so y'all check her out
Saturday, March 10th, 2007
Apache Cafe
Hustle Hard Show #1 - 9p
ATL GAUSA
Price: Cover
Hustle Hard '07 Launch in ATL
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
Reign
Choklate - 9p
Norfolk VAUSA
Price: Cover
Choklate returns to VA feat the Fuzz Band
Thursday, March 15th, 2007
Bohemian Caverns
Choklate - 9p
DC WA/DCUSA
Price: Cover
DC Performance Debut
Friday, March 16th, 2007
Berklee Performance Center
Choklate w/ Raheem Devaughn - 9p
Boston MassUSA
Price: Cover
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
SOB's
NY Performance Debut - 9p
New York NYUSA
Price: Cover
Soul Village Hosted by Eric Roberson
Sunday, March 25th, 2007
The Triple Door
Welcome Home Choklate feat. Peter Hadar and Eric Roberson - 8 & 10pm
Seattle WAUSA
Price: Cover
Hustle Hard '07 Tour Finale
Feat. Peter Hadar and Eric Roberson
Friday, April 27th, 2007
Soul Music Conference
Soul Music Conference
Dallas TXSaturday, April 28th, 2007
Soul Music Conference
Dallas TX
Afrodisiac Soundsystem
One of the other interesting Kajmere projects has been a series of white label-esque afro mash ups by the Afrodisiac Sound System crew who create cross cultural mash ups like this one incorporating Michael Jackson's Billie Jean groove and inspirational samples from Fela Anikupalo Kuti...
Afrodisiac Sound System - Billie Jean vs Fela Kuti
Visit KajmereSound.com for more info on this dynamic and diverse label...
Well finish up with some sounds from Maestro Omar Sosa...
This Berkely based jazz/latin/soul musician was born in the inland Cuban city of Camagüey and after rigorous musical studies and stints in Ecuador & Spain, he made it to the US in 1995. He began working with John Santos and has been well respected around SF's latin jazz scene for years...but last year was really in some ways the man's commerical breakthrough...
He was nominated for a Grammy in 2006 for the 2nd time, and he was made the subject of a trippy remix CD effort produced by Paris-based drummer, Steve Argüelles as well...
Here are two cuts... one from Mulatos and the other a remix of a track from the Mulatos Remix project...
Omar Sosa - L3zero.mp3
Omar Sosa - La Tra ( basephunk mix)"Mulatos" & "Mulatos Remix"
released in US by
Otá RecordsDownload more at eMusic
Download more at Napster
Stream from RealNetworks / Rhapsody
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