look&listen

Chris Montez "Wishes You Love" and "Sunny"-ness

2010-08-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

The angelic Rock n' Roll voice of (Ezekiel) Chris Montez jolted me with surprise after having found the record at a local Goodwill. Although I'm a musician that ignores the use of lyrics quite often, I found Chris' words compelling through the tone of his short-ranged but satisfyingly harmonic singing.

Chris began as a Rock n' Roll lead singer in his early 20s, making some early attempts with songs such as "Let's Dance" and "All You Had To Do Was Tell Me," a few hits coming from the Hawthorne-born local. After joining the label A&M in 1965 and after some wisdom and vocal advice from Herb Alpert, Chris began an interest for ballads and drifted from his Rock n' Roll roots in pursuit of a softer sound. His two albums in 1966, The More I See You and Time After Time, are significant from his previous band recordings, marking his transition from Rhythm & Blues into Easy Listening melodies.

Upon my whim of mindless track skipping throughout the album, my insatiable tendency to find that one SPECIAL song had been fulfilled when I dropped the needle on A-Sides track two. The gentle sound and lyrics of "I Wish You Love" serenades a particular woman with over-sentimental thoughts of love, hope and promise, which is a bit "corny on the corncob" but what else can you do about it if you were in love? What intrigues me the most is Chris' soft voice, and the jazzy accompaniment complements Chris' singing as the song is intro-ed with welcoming chimes of the xylophone. Through the track, I'm reminded of a specific scene in the 2002 film Punch Drunk Love, of when Barry (Adam Sandler) is searching for Lena (Emily Watson) in his so-called "business trip" to Hawaii, whereas Shelley Duvall's "He Needs Me" could be easily substituted with the cheeriness of Chris' wishful song. The track after it, "Sunny," seems to follow in a similar formula but under a slightly faster range of BPMs and different key, yet equally satisfying to the entire album.

I hope these two tracks bring "Sunny" and "Wishful" days for all you listeners out there. Enjoy, and have a good day.

[Article drafted on 12/4/2009. Published on 8/19/2010.]

"Sunny"

"I Wish You Love"

24electric Vol. 1: Cruisin' Deep

2010-08-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time, and I'm sure many people may think look&listen had died on the turn of a new decade. After nearly a year's worth of hiatus, I've returned to the ol' blog with plans to get stuff poppin' again.

SO PICKING UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF!

I had mentioned in Indisputable (circa Feb '09) that I had been working on a Deep House/Dance House mix. I admit that I'm not the most punctual person, but after a year and six months, after some "hard drive digging" here and there for my lost edits and recordings, I rediscovered the batch of mixes I had begun and finally did the dirty work to have it posted for your pleasure.

Currently, I've been juggling around with some new genres and sounds, which had led me to creating a new section for look&listen that focuses on electronic dance music. I call it 24electric.

When I first crossed Deep House music, I was a bit bewildered from the its vibe: do I dance or do I sip wine and lounge the night away? Perhaps the underlying beauty of the genre is that you have either option, and when is it ever bad to have choice? At times, the sound of Deep House somehow reminds me of outer space, of driving at night, of something gentle or delicate, yet the sound seems unofficially reserved for the mid to classy listeners. The lyrics from most Deep House I've heard, otherwise House music in general, delivers positive and encouraging messages of hope, which is something I find rare in lyrics today.

Although barely edited, nor my cleanest work of tapes, I hope you listeners out there enjoy this new section of music and look forward to more future volumes of 24electric.

24electric

Vol. 1: Cruisin' Deep

Track listing:

1. The Kelly Project - Won't Let You Go
2. Dennis Ferrer - All The Things I Look For
3. Neurotron - Outside
4. Blue Six - Music and Wine (Teksoul Dub)
5. Bioground Feat. Joeee - Soulful People
6. Lisa Shaw - Let It Ride (Jimpster Remix)
7. Bah Samba - And It's Beautiful
8. Cassius - 1999 (Remix)
9. Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You
10. Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight
11. Janet Jackson - Rock With U

Rainy Days and Mondays

2009-12-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

Waking up to the sound of rain is not so common to the average socal dweller, in fact seeing any precipitation over our former desert land is a blessing in our drought-ridden state. I only hope that in the long run of this global warming crisis that we continue to adapt to the changes of our environment, and that every attempt we make to slow down the warming process, whether by going green or living a sustainable lifestyle, will get people thinking consciously about the decisions they make and how they affect the world.

Unlike the random June gloom we've experienced this past year, this week's winter storm felt a bit out of place but has been quite refreshing, particularly with cleansing the air in my neck of the woods. It had given me the notion to use this instrumental Jazz version of the Carpenters hit, 'Rainy Days and Mondays,' in today's post to fit with the scene; I saved a perfect song for a rainy day. The song starts off with another Carpenters classic, "We've Only Just Begun," and switches off with 'Rainy Days' in the latter. If you feel burdened upon unwanted overcast and heavy drizzles, deceived by invisible water-filled potholes and intimidated by a possible chance of hail storms that wishes to scream all over your beautiful Frontier's windshield, then I hope this Carpenters cover cheerfully lights up your day.

Shout out to all the bday peeps as well, Mary Rose, Nicole, Nat, Dom, and all the other Sagittariuses of 2009.

And now, for the music...

New Horizon's "Rainy Days and Mondays"

A Soulful Sunday

2009-11-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

Some Sunday ago back in October, a distant record collector/acquaintance sent me a friendly text, giving me the heads up about him and his girlfriend's yard sale, which to my past experience was something like a weekend excavation for some classic 'must-haves' and sentimental gems. In the past he's made generous offers that insured me that I wouldn't be walking home empty handed, and yet his impressively vast collection of good ol' soul, jazz and rock that surpasses my own, reassures that today's a sure thing (not to mention that his is more organized than my deranged dungeon of obscure children's exercise records and random Christian funk or Christian Rock records. The mixture of obscurity and well-defined genres only makes it even more difficult to categorize, but that's the kinda stuff I love). I figured that before I make way to the local coffee shop and hit the books I should at least gander upon his collection; and yet again, killed some time but came up on some good shit.

I came home with 62 donuts and one LP of Cal Tjader in a trader joe's bag; no regrets. A lot of it was soul, which definitely satisfied my own.

I particularly swooped some all time and personal favorites on 45, the kinda stuff that you'd see in thrift stores for $3 that you'd like add to your collection (ECM joints, Kudu records, endless Sergio Mendez stuff, etc.) but that you're willing to put on hold till there's a "50% off sale;" that time was finally up for me. Alongside the classics were some rather unknown (that is to my knowledge) 7 inches that I couldn't wait to sample on the MPC (with respects, RIP MPC).

...getting down to it all...

Betty Wright "Tonight Is The Night pt. 2"

Brenton Wood "Lovey Dovey Kinda Love"

First pick off my stack is Betty Wright's "Tonight Is The Night pt. 2," which is sampled on DJ Quik's "Tonight." Aside from breaks and samples, for those of you who know me well, I'm secretly a growing fan of Brenton Wood songs. If it's not "Show Me A Little Sign," then it's perhaps any other Wood song that's crept into my cranium and is horribly amplified in my series of singing in the shower.

El Chicano "Sabor A Mi"

When names like El Chicano, Malo, Tierra and War come into mind, I have this vivid image of Los Angeles in the 1950s. That wave of brown-eyed soul bands and artists depict a nostalgic picture of low rider angelinos cruising through the streets, giving me this aural yet conceptual idea of what LA was like back in the day. That or I am reminded of that specific scene in Jackie Brown scene when Ordell pops in a tape of Brothers Johnson in the whip and then rubs out Beaumont (love that scene).

The Masqueraders "I'm Just An Average Guy."

When I first cued this track, it just had to be a Wu-Tang beat; the deep sound-draining bass, plucking guitar, heavy soul singing, it all sounded too familiar annd too much like the Wu from there on. My first assumption was "Liquid Swords," but it turns out that it was sampled on Gza's "Collection of Classics," "an exclusive and limited edition album full of classic songs and unreleased gems," that was only released in Europe in 2004 (shucks...). (http://www.wutang-corp.com/news/article.php?id=485). I personally haven't heard that album yet, but if I ever come across it, I'd know I have at least the sample to the intro.

Tyrone Davis "Can I Change My Mind"

Tyrone Davis' "Can I Change My Mind" can be found on the 1968 single of "A Woman Needs To Be Loved." "Change My Mind" became a b-sides hit in the late 60s, finding it's way to top of R&B Billboard Charts for three consecutive weeks. Davis first started off as a chauffeur for the legendary Blues artist Freddie King (in 1993, Gov. Ann Richards declared September 3 "Freddie King Day." That's how legendary he is, but that's another story). Born in Greenville, MI, Davis moved to Chicago in his early 20s and sang in local clubs around the city. Soon, he was discovered by Harold Burrage, and was then later picked up by Carl Davis, who signed Davis on to help kick off the newly formed Dakar Records, Cotillion Records's little brother, which both were the subsidiary to Atlantic records.

The introduction really kicks me off my feet with some slappin' funky drums, prideful blaring trumpets, jolly undertone licks of the funky guitar, and with a hook that continuously haunts me with the line "start all over again..." A song for the broken hearted, attempting to form anew? My bitterness only chuckles as my records continue to spin.

Time To Face The Real

2009-11-13T11:23:00.001-08:00

Yes! I'm back!

After undergoing many life phases (some awesome, some regretable, overall, all was a learning experience), I've finally slowed down and began to reprioritize the important aspects of my life that make me who I am.

But enough with the personal reconnections and "what does it all mean" questions, I'm about ready to drop some new dusted off, grimey ass wax; drop some of the latest beats I've been grinding on beatmaker and speak the latest stories through my third eye lens.

I've avoided committment and questioned life for too long; it's time that I face the real and drop this shit.

For now, I gotta dance! (ballroom 101, because I don't dance)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Looking Into The Abyss

2009-05-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

Amidst of all my school work, "work" work, and going to shows, I desperately try to squeeze even the littlest time to indulge myself into extensive researching and writing for the sake of content of this blog. Troubling commitment? Nope, not even. Writing for look&listen is more like me watering my plants on a weekly basis... mind you all that only ONE (of two) died! Scurrying from my embarrassment, this look&listen post shines on forgotten musicians that have vanished before reaching fame and artists that I simply know NOTHING about (ironic huh? As if I'm supposed to do all the homework for every post, heh).

Aalon Cream City

Aalon - "Summer Love"

Aalon - "Magic Night"

Not much can be said about Aalon. You can google about them all you want but there's scarce coverage on the band, likewise on Wikipedia. I personally haven't excavated into the band's history due to the lack of time, but if anyone's willing to do the nitty gritty and find more info, school me, because I would like to know.

Signed by Arista in 1977 (or is it Thump Records?), Aalon struggled to gain mass appeal with it's unique mixture of "Rock n' Soul." Underrated by the masses, the group produced only one album but it failed to hit charts and band quickly faded into oblivion in the late 70s. Yet their ecstatic mixture of Disco/Soul R&B/Rock remains noteworthy, especially during a time when not many bands or artists pioneered in such combination of genres. "Summer Love" takes a different approach from the rest of the album's songs, whereas the majority of tracks resemble more of a Rock sound similar to bands like Chicago and Steely Dan. Aalon Butler, founder of Aalon and former guitarist of the Eric Burdon Band, shared ideas with Burdon in combining the sounds of R&B with Rock. With influences from "Sly & the Family Stone, Graham Central Station, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Isley Brothers (among others), Cream City was a soul-funk gem with a definite rock influence." (All Music Guide)
Not much can be said about the groups disbandment and Aalon left the late 70s fusion music scene with Cream City as their only album.

Unknown test pressed record

unknown track1

unknown track2

unknown - "Feel Like Making Love"

This was one of those occasional "good accidents" I had stumbled upon in a local LB record store a year ago. It's also another reason why I treasure dollar bin boxes so much, you just never know what great gems you will find. Flipping through the crates, I stumbled upon this copy of what sounds to be some great Brazilian Jazz LP. With a bland test pressing label and illegible penmanship, I was unable to accurately decipher the artist, album information, otherwise a valuable pen scribble of some sort of name. The first track of the LP (possibly the second 12" of the album) begins with a fluctuate rolling of keys off the electric keyboard, which is carried by a steadfast, jaunty melodic voice, sung in Portuguese (please correct me if I'm mistaken). The second track plays smooth Bossanova, bringing one's mind at ease; while on the b-sides, we have an elegant rendition of Roberta Flack's hit, "Feel Like Makin' Love."

I have suspicion that this LP is a reissue through the site whatmusic.com, as the words "whatmusic" is labeled on the b-sides of the record. I'm assuming that the artist or album's title is the cursive word on the far right of the test press side, but my inability to comprehend the name leaves me clueless of who the musicians are. If anyone knows anything, drop a line via comment box or email.

R U Long Beach?

2009-04-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

I was at an art show a few weeks ago, one that my friend and a Long Beach art and cultural collective put together. "R U Long Beach," name of the collective and the event, featured a beautiful display of work from various artists of LB, overfilling the warehouse venue with a mass of hipsters, college students and bohemians alike. The location, enhanced with creative graffiti wall art, skateboard-shredded quarter pipes, resonant reggae and 80s throwback music and dim twilight lighting, only made the scene better that what one would imagine in essence of any other art show.

the brothers.

mark canto.

Yet the event didn't last for long...

Cops came through and busted the event; a lot of injustice went down. One of my buddies was cited for DJing without possessing "a DJ license" (aka a "mobile DJ business license." Yes, there is such a thing...). Another friend was arrested for "ignoring" the officer and closing the entrance's front door on him. The cop responded with an inconsiderably powerful kick, swinging the door hitting several other bystanders, surely a duty in an officer's protocol "to protect and serve." Hopefully the next function doesn't go down like this...

(Chronologically, my pictures of the police occurred prior to taking pictures of the art show. In our first encounter of the police, the show was busted but a compromise was made and the show continued. Although in our second encounter, the cops completely shut down the event. I re-ordered the chronology of the pictures for the sake of my writing composition. I also felt that explaining this in the beginning of the article would have been too complicated and discouraged you fellow viewers from reading further).

R U Long Beach 4.11.09

For more information on "R U Long Beach": http://www.rulongbeach.com/

Hip Hop Helps the World

2009-04-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I last wrote an article post on look&listen, and rather than venting the last several weeks aloud like a ranting twitter page, I'm gonna move forward and make the best to provide tasty updates.

Next Sunday is a special fund raising event for a talented group of kids who flew all the way from Cambodia to tour around the U.S. and do one thing... breakdance!

And you're probably thinking, "what's the big deal? They're just another b-boy crew, what of them?"

Tiny Toones, and I don't mean "all the little loonies" of Steven Spielberg, is an organization that teaches the youth in Cambodia how to b-boy/b-girl while also providing the children with the motivation to stay in school, avoid gangs and stay drug free. What started out as a solo b-boying session, "KK" aka Tuy Sobil, the founder of the organization, was approached by a set of kids who were inspired by his fresh style. The kids were eager to learn and KK was willing to teach, hence Tiny Toones, an org teaches b-boying.

The crew has been on tour around the U.S. for the last couple of weeks. This upcoming Sunday, May 3, 2009, is one of their last events of their tour, which is going to be held at the Chuco Justice Center of Inglewood, CA. Come join us for this special all ages event. We're accepting $5-10 dollar donations at the door and we won't be refusing anyone if you cannot donate. There's a line up of some great performers and b-boying/b-girling action, along with bracelet making, graffiti tagging, live art, T-shirt silk screen making and other family fun recreational activities.

Tiny Toones Community Event & Fundraiser
Sunday May 3rd
5:00PM - 10:00 PM
Chuco's Justice Center
1137 E. Redondo Blvd
Inglewood, CA 90321

For more information, go to http://www.tinytoonescambodia.com/

Save our cafes!

2009-04-04T23:15:00.000-07:00

About two and a half weeks ago I spun at Diggin' Sunday and attended the Lost Souls Cafe fundraiser in support of both cafes that struggle to stay afloat in this sinking economy. It's no question that business is bad every place you go, but what's more depressing is walking through the streets of downtown to find all these small businesses immediately gone, with tons of for lease posters sticking on empty windows and pickets signs standing near the front door. The world is literally becoming a ghostown and it's up to the people to keep these business running. But if business fails, we should cherish our last moments with these mom and pop shops.
(RIP Acres of Books, the original Shades of Afrika and the many small shops from around).

Diggin' Sunday @ Tribal Cafe
Diggin' Sunday is this open turntables event that's held every 3rd Sunday of the month in a cafe spot called Tribal Cafe. DJs and record collectors from different parts of LA county (but not limited to) come to this spot in Historic Filipinotown to spin some good soul/funk/80s RnB/90s throwback/rock music with hopes that it attracts music enthusiasts and customers for the business. Besides being an attraction, Diggin' Sunday is a free event that provides a perfect atmosphere for some loungin', reading, rendez-vous spot for friends, digging into some good eats and (in my opinion) an ease to your mind, ridding the stresses of life. Josh, the owner of Tribal Cafe, serves some delicious sandwiches and fruit smoothies. For any first timer, I recommend trying the Adobo sandwich with a large Pina Colada. I claim the Adobo sandwich as the cafe's trademark specialty; I don't know many other cafes that make such a sandwich.

Pictures from Diggin' 2.15.09 & 3.15.09

DJ Waxstyles

Dave

joel quizon

mark

sudoku, my old addiction is calling me back.

the cafe & etc...

Lost Souls cafe
Lost Souls cafe is another coffee shop venue that puts up some dope performances by various community artists and traveling performers. A performing artist collective called Tuesday Night Katalyst (TNKat), particularly holds their first three showcases at Lost Souls cafe as they start off the new season. TNKat provides a space for featured artists and open mic performers to perform in front of a live and web-streamed audience. It's a free event held in Lost Souls cafe and in the Aratani Courtyard in Jtown LA. Check out their webpage for updates of their shows. www.tnkat.org

Lost Souls cafe 3.15.09

walking through downtown LA

@ Lost Souls

In front is daytime...

...in back is night.

some light graffiti fun.

My time has flown out the window...

2009-03-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted, and the simplest explanation I can offer is that I've been busy. No I haven't reached a hiatus with the website and my mixes, I just haven't had the time and energy I once had before school, work and cold/flu/asthma teamed up to ruin my creativity. Lately my time has been divided between school, work, organizing and life, which has been absorbing a lot of my energy and time, giving me little or no time to get back in the zone.

I've also been working on a project about Filipino hip hop dance teams and I structured the project through collecting interviews and conducting ethnographic observations. The project's been consuming a lot out of me. I failed to have a mix (or 3) up this passed month, so I'll make it up by posting this week's Breaks & Samples article tomorrow in hopes that it'll compensate for lost time. For now, academia and the "9 to 5" wins...

One Imagination performs @ Blue Cafe 3.14.09

2009-03-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

"Remember a time when time was not worth remembering." ~The Guns

This past Saturday, One Imagination performed at a One Love Community event at the Blue Cafe in downtown Long Beach.

One Imagination is an art collective that focuses on assisting the community with workshops and artistic performances of self-consciousness and creativity. Besides our openly interpretable purpose statement, we're literally a loosely-based group of individuals who support one another in pursuit of our art and goals in life. Everyone is welcome to join our collective, with artistic talent or complete lack thereof, anyone can join because "everyone is an artist, you just have to manifest your creativity to let your art out there." ~Jumakae.

One Imagination @ Blue Cafe.

Canela Negra

Barikuda from One Love Community.

Jumakae

John Wayne (left) and Avi the mos' ill (right), reppin' as 2 of the Three Musketeers

A future MC.

Queen Herstory and her "Royal Crumpers"

The Guns

Ryan aka "Asian Bad Boy"

Sumi aka Rae Motonaga

SelphConscious (Edwin)

Album: One Imagination performs @ Blue Cafe 3.14.09

Darfur Fundraising Event @ Grandstar Jazz Club

2009-03-15T12:05:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday I took the train to Chinatown to catch Jumakae and Avi do their thing at a Darfur fundraising event at Grandstar Jazz Club.

@ the show.

Jumavi (or Avikae?)

selphconscious.

just outside.

Besides the event I took a few artistic shots around the town. No favorites yet, but nice desktop pictures.

Mystic performed as one of closing artists. She put up a really good show, performing classics such as "The Life" and other various tracks. She also talked about the struggle in Darfur, reasons why we need to maintain community and other ways of contributing to society. As June put it, "she's like a mom."

meeting Mystic.

Later that night we wound up in Seva Cafe back in LB. Seva Cafe is a weekly event held at Zephyrs Cafe every Sunday from 7pm-9pm, where the organization Be The Cause serves delicious vegetarian food and shares positive vibes with one another, making this place a warm, homey-like haven. Also all the meals are paid by donations of individuals who have eaten prior to your visit. A nonprofit restaurant of volunteering servers; beautiful.

i love the BTC (basil,tomato and cheese sandwich)

album: darfur fundraiser @ grandstar jazz club

Breaks & Samples: Love's In the Air

2009-03-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Sup readers,

This week's theme of Breaks & Samples revolves on an amorous topic of feelings and emotion, an expression of affection, the mushy gushy song samples of love. I know we just got over Valentine's Day about a month ago, and whether it was a good V-day or not (SAD day for all us single people out there), allow me to drop these tracks with some last minute of love songs with some "bittersweet" knowledge.

Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack - "Be Real Black For Me"

Something magical happens when you combine two great 70's soul artists into one collaborative album; you conceive an album of love songs and covers. Yet after the album's release, tension arose between the two musicians as Donny's illness of paranoid schizophrenia and depression conflicted with their work and friendship, postponing the two from working together until the release of their 1978 hit, "The Closer I Get To You," which led them to create their second album of duets, Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway. Although "Where Is The Love?" is acclaimed as their first album's best song, I instead prefer the souling feel of "Be Real Black For Me." The harmonic chant of of the chorus leaves me with an insatiable desire to throw the song on repeat; in my opinion, it becomes this never-ending chant that never grows tiresome and gets stronger by every measure. The piano intro of the song is a looped portion and sampled beat in Jean Grae's "Keep Livin,'" keep livin' and be real for me.

The O'Jays - Darlin' Darlin' Baby

Another love song with a catchy hook that finds me mumbling the chorus for days. Formerly known as the Triumphs and the Mascots, The O'Jays, who named themselves as a tribute to DJ Eddie O'jay, formed in 1968 and were a national hit with the release of their first single, "Lonely Drifter." Although they're known for hits songs such as "Backstabbers" and "Love Train," the song that I present for you is a sample from Big Pun's Capital Punishment album "I'm Not A Player."

Aretha Franklin - "Call Me"

Either a perfect love song for a long distant relationship or a couple that's glued to the phone (and I curse the day when this track becomes a sample for a cellphone commercial, ugh). Aretha Franklin's "Call Me" sings a sweet yet mellow love song that innocently asks her lover(s) to call her. Whether the song is dedicated for one person or many, or an emphasis on how much one loves the other, it's quite contrasting to listen how Kanye West drops the sample for Slum Village's "Selfish," and Elzhi and T3 talks about the many girls they have from city to city, asking them all to call'em back. Telephone love?

Diana Ross - "Love Hangover"

Not all love songs are sang with light. For divas such as Diana Ross, love could sometimes be the simplest yet deceptive remedy to a broken heart. From the Surpremes to a solo artist, Diana sings her mournful happiness through this Hal Davis produced album, and yet the way Jermaine Dupri revitalizes it with bangin' beats and amped up bass for Monica's "First Night" single, turns this sour relationship into a lovers first meet.

Patrice Rushen - "Settle For My Love"

A soothing love song sung by Patrice Rushen. Not only is Patrice a singer but she is also recognized as a Jazz master, a top musical director and as the first woman to become a musical direcor for the Grammy and Emmys Awards, and NAACAP Image Awards and for Newsweek's first American Achievement Award. With a gentle voice like Minnie Ripperton in her solo years, Patrice's singing hits the right notes and the mood of the song is an excellent production by Charles Mims Jr, Reggie Andrews and Patrice. Even though she has plenty of hits around, ie. "Forget Me Nots," ("here comes the men in black!"), my favorite tends to be the hypnotic vibes of "Settle For My Love." Although the song was covered by Musiq Soulchild, I give it up to 90s hip hop for sampling it the best, such as in Shyheim's "Shaolin Style."

Jumakae's Performance @ Grandstar 2.1.09

2009-03-09T19:28:00.001-07:00

June's Performance @ Grandstar 2.1.09

The other day I stumbled upon a lost photo album that covered one of June's performances at Grandstar. The album was made during the same weekend I celebrated my 22nd bday and must have gotten lost after all the partying. The inferior picture quality from my last camera has me cringe with discomfort. A lot of pictures came out noisy and the image quality is nowhere near sharp; sharing this album even worries me. Yet after reviewing the shots and observing my angles, I realized that the pictures weren't half-bad, proving to myself how a photographer's skill can sometimes justify the quality of a picture. Even when using a dinky cheap point&shoot.

Jumakae

album: june performs @ grandstar 2.1.09

Calling In Sick

2009-03-02T20:33:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

From catching a cold to getting a flu, due to illness I'm going on vacation from blogging, school and work for awhile. Although I promise to get back on it with a new post of either some songs&history or a mix by this Sunday (perhaps even sooner!)

-matt n.

Redbone: Messaage From A Drum

2009-03-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Red bone: a cajun term that describes an individual of having mixed race.

Redbone is also the name of a hardhitting Native American rock band and is remembered as the first commercially successful American Indian rock group from the U.S. Forming together in 1968, they named themselves after Cajun term "Redbone" due to the fact that each member came from a different Native American tribe (members were descedants from Cherokee, Apache, Yaqui and Shoshone). Content of the early years of the band consisted on different styles of Rock, such as psyche-rock, swamp-rock and surf rock. Years later the band would eventually conform to the invading wave of disco, gaining mass appeal with the release of their dance hit, "Come and Get Your Love," which by popularity, is said to be their biggest song of all time. After two more albums and some disco compilations, the group disbanded.

The two half-Mexican and Native American founding brothers of the band, Patrick and Lolly Vasquez, were born in Fresno, CA, where they worked in migrant camps of cotton fields and apricot orchards. Prior to the banding of Redbone, the two brothers developed their musical talent and career at an early age, performing as a duo and making recordings under multiple names: the Avantis, the Routers, the Mar-kets, Hottrodders' Choice, the Sharks and the Deuce Coupes. (even somewhere along the way, change their last name from Vasquez to Vegas) Throughout the 1960s, the Vasquez brothers followed with the trends of surf rock, releasing songs such as "Big Surf" and "Surf Stomp." They were also members of a band titled the Shindigs, where they played with Leon Russell and Delaney Bramllet as a house band for the popular television sitcom Shindig. It was in Los Angeles where the brothers came up with the idea to form Redbone; however, Patrick claims that it was Jimi Hendrix, who is also half Indian, who pushed for the band, emphasizing to the duo the importance of ethnic roots. Patrick: "He'd say 'Native American is beautiful, man, be proud of that.'"

The band's third album, Message From A Drum, came out in 1970. Although in Europe the album was released as The Witch Queen of New Orleans and with a different cover. The European release also featured the additional track, "Chant: The 13th hour," which was not released in the U.S. until the album was reissued on CD in the early 2000s. The album features the classic Cajun swamp-rocker song "Witch Queen From New Orleans," which resembles a swamp-rock style similar to the songs of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Niji Trance opens up with some native like-chanting before thrusting into this powerful combo with the drums and gutiar that keeps your head banging for more. I used to think it was the sample to Black Milk's "Sound The Alarm," although I was proven wrong after learning that Milk samples it off of Steve Miller's "Space Intro" (I had major doubts to begin with). I actually combined two songs in this next track because I thought the two made an excellent pair in expressing the band's creativity. Perico warms up into a spacey psychedellic trance of an intro, Fate then blasts off into some Funky beats by Pete "Last Walking Bear" DePoe, followed by the harmonic voice of Lolly who sings about crumbled empires, men with uncontrollable power and wealth, how fate is decided after death and various topics revolving upon good prevailing over evil. Near the end of Fate, the song gets down with some rushing guitar solos by either Lolly or Pat and slowly fades as the song prepares for a explosion.

Members of the Band (copied and pasted from musicianguide.com):

Aloisio Aguiar (joined group, 1977), keyboards, drums;
Anthony "Tony" Bellamy (left group, 1977), guitar;
Peter DePoe (also known as Last Walking Bear; left group, 1972), drums;
Arturo Perez (left group, 1973), drums;
Butch Rillera (group member, 1973-77), drums;
Lolly Vegas (born Vasquez), guitar, vocals;
Patrick Vegas (born Vasquez), bass guitar.

Witch Queen From New Orleans

Niji Trance

Fate (intro-ed by Perico)

A Dose of Hip-Hop Vol. 2: "The Indisputable Sound"

2009-02-25T03:21:00.000-08:00

messy or creative?

SERIOUSLY, from 6:05PM to 4:01AM , I've been working this hip-hop mix for approximately 10 hours with quick breaks and barely any rest (home from work, started mix, had dinner, practiced a bit of locking, failed to clean the pad and then went straight to mix again... times like these makes me wish I had serato... OH WELL, vinylz 4 life!). I couldn't unhook myself from addiction, I was determined to get this mix down by the end of the night, and by 3:38AM I started going delirious and getting lightheaded (...but whatever). After about 20-30 attempts redo-ing this mix to keep it squeakier than squeakiest, and after the editing and amplfying up of numerous sections of the mix, and overall, before the breakadawn, I was able to bring ya'll this mix. Enjoy.

A Dose of Hip-Hop Vol.2: "The Indisputable Sound"

1. Common - The Game
2. Cella Dwellas - Land of The Lost
3. InI feat. Pete Rock - No More Words
4. Reflection Eternal - 2000 Seasons
5. Black Sheep - Make Munnne
6. Common - Resurrection
7. Kym Rae - Laid Back (Def Squad Re-mix)
8. Das Efx - Mic Checka
9. People Under The Stairs - The Brownout
10. Talib Kweli - Never Been In Love
11. Dam-Funk - Burn Rubber
12. Platinum Pied Pipers - Act Like You Know (Ge-ology mix)
13. A Tribe Called Quest feat. Erykah Badu - U C Me Doin' It (instr.) (talk with DJ nPrevail)
14. A Tribe Called Quest feat. Erykah Badu - U C Me Doin' It

Breaks & Samples

2009-02-23T19:06:00.000-08:00

Got some new tunes for all you music heads out there, hope you enjoy the originals as much as I do.

The Cyrkle - "Turn-Down Day"

The Cyrkle is a 1960s band that arose from the minds of two college student guitarists, Don Dannemann and Tom Dawes, who later teamed up with Marty Fried and Earl Pickens to create one groovy band. Formerly known as the fratrock band, The Rhondells, The Cyrkle went into a series of hardships and eventually fell apart until the creation of their first big hit, "Red Rubber Ball," which can be found on the b-sides of this 45. Under the management of Brian Epstein, who was also manager of the Beatles, the Cyrkle was a hit until Brian's death which devastated the band and cursed them to their financial downfall and failure to provide song hits. "Turn-Down Day" is a song that symbolizes the "free spirit of teenagers" in the 1960s and 60s rock n roll music. It particularly fits well as a sample used by People Under The Stairs for their version of a "Turn-Down Day."

Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers - "Bustin' Loose pt. I"

Chuck Brown, aka the Godfather of the 1970s funk soul subgenre, Go-go, is the mastermind behind this 1978 national hit. His music and creation of go-go led the way for many go-go successors of the genre and would later become a major influence to RnB and Rap scene. Although not the first group to sample it, the neptunes-produced beat for Nelly's "Hot in Heree" frames the rhythm section and bumps the track up with heavy kicks and crispy snares. Nelly even shouts out the chuck brown hook at 1:00, then compare it to the "Bustin Loose'" hook, get it? (sigh, 2002... time flies...)

Evelyn "Champagne" King - "The Show Is Over"

If you were at the Break the Silence open mic back in January, you may recognize this song as being one of the last numbers for me to drop. Although she's most remembered from her classic 1980s hit "Love Come Down," I find "The Show Is Over" to be one of my personal favorite tracks, and is notably remembered by its nice groove. To my knowledge this song is sampled as the recurring vocal chant of RJD2's "Final Frontier" and is especially sampled in Ice Cube's "You Know How We Do it."

Bob James - "Blue Lick"

It's always nice to carry a Bob James collection, and even if you don't like easy listening, his album covers of enlarged objects make hilarious props for picture taking. Bob James' music is nothing but chill chamber music. This song is sampled in Digable Planets "Jettin'", catch it in the last 46 seconds of the track and you'll know what I mean.

Bob James - "Angela" (live)

I figured that since I stepped into my Bob James collection, I might as well step down memory lane on one of my personal favorite. The theme song for Taxi, aka "Angela," is just another classic song that remains embedded in my childhood as I glimpse at reminiscing sketches of the multi-voice talented comedian Andy Kaufman (thank you Nick At Night for all the sitcom classics).

artPhotography @ Sevilla and Blue Cafe

2009-02-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

In the last two days of sickness and runny noses, I've been trying to cough up a house mix and several entries of unforgettable and personally favorite songs, but instead I've found myself going out to clubs and shows to meet up with friends and supporting artists (gotta show love, ya know?). So I found myself hanging around downtown LB this week, dropping by Sevilla and Blue Cafe to play catch up with folks and be entertained; and in both venues, I got artsy and did my picture thang. I'm posting up the cream of the crop, but you can find the rest of the pictures on the links at bottom of this entry.

If you've been wondering where all the music went, no worries! I know it's been awhile but I promise you that by sometime tomorrow I will have something up! So keep your ears open for my next audible entry.

Sevilla 2.19.09
Hung out with the homies from the nard. Spent most of the night taking pictures.

Blue Cafe 2.20.09
Came out to support my favorite artists/friends at Blue Cafe, particularly a Latin rhythm band called Canela Negra and this dope MC and his crew from the west co, AVI the most ill.

3 musketeers/west covina crew + jslam

AVI the most ill.

Canela Negra

ish on guitar

chad with the soul

jslam on the keys

dave on the bass

drew on the kick-snare

it's june!

Sevilla 2.19.09
Blue Cafe 2.20.09

Valentines Day pt. 2

2009-02-19T08:02:00.000-08:00

So after getting home and barely starting this entry, I caught several friends of my in the neighborhood and decided to hang out with them; the night goes on. Catching up with them, I call them over to my place, and if you've been to my place you know how "intimately small" it is. With the six of us, inebriated in a bombshelter of alcohol and wine, an artistic photoshoot exploded:

(Following pictures taken by June and Noel)

After leaving my pad, the team and I headed to Hamberburger Mary's to hand out safe sex packets at a gay club event, with a theme particularly targeting Asian men. We're apart of an HIV/AIDs and safe sex awareness organization called Project Choice, and advocating safe sex and passing out rubbers is only a sample of what we do (besides presentations, educational skits and activities with the audience). But go there on any other day when they're a restaurant because I have to admit, despite the kinky and informal service of Hamburger Mary's, they have the best Mac n' Cheese burgers I've ever ate. After learning of a cover charge for the event, John and I abandoned the team and took our broke asses to Roscoe's and spent our $7 bucks on secculent chicken n' waffles (if you were nearly broke and you had to choose between food or a club event? which one would you choose?). At this point, the wine was kicking in.

We met up with the rest of the famished gang and headed out to shorehouse cafe for more grub. The pictures says all.

Good times.

Time: 3:56AM. Time to sleep.

Valentines day album 2.14.09

A Dose of Hip-Hop vol. 1

2009-02-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

kickin' it.

A quick, yet raw, mix I pumped out this morning; I woke up with a selection of songs in my head and had to drop 'em out, otherwise I'd be hating myself.

A Dose of Hip-Hop vol. 1

Playlist:
1. Boogie Down Productions - We In There (remix)
2. Panda One - A to Q's (fat jon's remix)
3. Giant Panda - 90s
4. High & Mighty - Weed
5. Gangstarr - Flip The Script (remix/minor adjustment mix)
6. A Tribe Called Quest - The Chase pt. ii
7. Aloe Blacc - Personal Business
8. Madlib - Take It Back

Gypsy

2009-02-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

From pictures of records

Gypsy (formely known as The Underbeats) is a '70s progressive rock band that came straight out of Minneapolis and relocated their new identity in Los Angeles, particularly playing at the Whiskey Go-Go as the house band. Their first four albums were produced by Enrico Rosenbaum, a former member from The Escapades who carried a powerful voice of dynamic harmonies and melodies found on many of the Gypsy's first four albums. He died at the age of 36 from tuberculosis and the Gypsy legacy was continued by James Walsh. Drummer Bill Lordan didn't join the band until after the first album was made, three albums later, he became the drummer for Sly & The Stone's album Small Talk and for many of Robin Trower albums from '74 to '81 (one album in '96). In their 1970 self-titled album, Rico produces and co-produces 11 of the 13 tracks. The band was best known for their recordings of "Gypsy Queen pt. 1 & 2."

I dug up this record sometime during my first year living in Lakewood ('05 to '06ish?). I first caught on to trancing desert-like sounds of the repetitious guitar riffs in "I Was So Young," yet later realizing how the track was sampled by Force of Nature for the Samurai Champloo OST (skip to 3:48 and you'll see what I mean. If you need further proof, look no further). "Here In My Loneliness" was another notable track I wanted the post alongside "I Was So Young" to emphasize the band's potential and variety. I really dig the funky hard drumming in this track, and the organ&guitar combo feels so vibrantly bright and upbeat, I had to post this one in order to enjoy the rest of my day. Gypsy reminds me of a jazz-rock feel of an early Blood, Sweat and Tears with no trumpet section but with Greg Munford-like vocals from Mr. Rosenbaum. The keyboardist, James "Owl" Walsh, does harmonies right, and with Rico singing lead for majority of the tracks; Gypsy deserves recognition for this great album.

Band Members (copied off wikipedia):
James Calvin Johnson (lead guitar, vocals)
Enrico Rosenbaum (guitar, vocals, percussion)
James "Owl" Walsh (keyboards, vocals, percussion)

Doni Larson (bass)
Randy Cates (bass)
Willie Weeks (bass)
Bill Lordan (drums)
Jay Epstein (drums)

From pictures of records

Here Is My Loneliness

I Was So Young

How I Spent Valentines Day pt. 1

2009-02-14T19:38:00.000-08:00

Valentines day was awesome, which is strange to hear coming from a person who has always despised it for being a corny and lousy-excuse-day to ask a girl out, yet realizing that these weak excuses are good pick ups for the everday lonely admirer. Sadly, I had no date, no one asked me to be their valentine, and yet I saved a lot of money for doing none of the above (there's always a plus side!). But I made this day into one of my best days of February, and I'm expressing it in a mess of photos and words.

For the last several days i've been pretty bed ridden with this terrible cold; it's prevented me from going out and enjoying my spontaneous adventures. I think I caught it through one of my kids at work when I was teaching. He coughed in my face a bunch of times while I was trying to teach the kids how to weave yarn bracelets, but it's koo because I took revenge by enforcing child labor for the 1.25 hours I had them (no seriously, it's a lot of fun and energy working with kids. I enjoy it a lot.)

Today, I woke up at 8am, thinking about all the things I had to do, which were: (1) pick up air hockey table from the hedda house (RIP), (2) have lunch with folks, (3) DJ at artwalk, (4) whatever else... (and yet everyday I make a failed attempt to study for school... oh well; enjoying life.) Fell back to sleep and woke up from a phone call from my parents around 11:30. Left the pad by noon.

Before I picked up the air hockey table, I decided to pass by the Beatrock store to say hi to some KMB peeps who were planning their 3rd Filipino ED of the three part series.

John Eric setting up the projector.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

Kala and Kristine

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

I couldn't stay long or stick around for the actual ED to start; I had too much on my plate and was running on a strict schedule. I was hoping to hit up some thrift shops in the latter part of my day but I ended up butchering those plans due to limited time. I was able to squeeze some time and stop by my old work at the grocery drive-thru, Milk Barn, and was able to catch up with an old friend.

After having lunch with the folks I headed back to downtown LB to DJ with my friend paul at the 2nd st. art walk, which is every 2nd Sunday of every month. I first headed home, picked up my backpack of records, hopped on my brother's bike and pedaled my way through downtown, which was literally a 2 minute ride.

nPrevail out in the open.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

DJing was okay. When I DJ, I usually mix with a reverse crossfader yet Paul's mixer only did regular style, which I struggled with getting my tracks on point. Plus my playlist was pretty scattered; I had no time to pick and choose my selections before getting to the gig and so I was somewhat trainwrecking genres into one another. Although not the worst gig, it was nowhere near my best.

Paul Domiguez doin' his thing

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

Artwalk on 2nd st.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

As you can see the art walk isn't the most poppin' thing in downtown, yet people bring their families here and manage to have a good time. For me, I like the fact that I'm able to play music outside rather than indoors and that this place is literally two blocks away from my pad on Lime ave. This year I'm taking my art in photography and music to the next level and that taking any opportunity that allows me to express my work is the first step.

What I love about downtown Long Beach is that everything is practically within short walking distance. It definitely helps to have a car, but when you live in a downtown where bus fares are free for CSULB college students, where bicycles zoom from street to intersection and where the beach breeze burns your face with ocean spray, you can't help but to enjoy walking.

June talking with Eduardo and Jamal about the cafe's history of employees.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

Home girl June then rolled through and met up with me and Paul. June and I walked to Good Vibes cafe in hopes to find her a quiet and warm place to study, and as usual, we did everything BUT study. We made casual talk with the manager of Good Vibes. June was able to jam on the piano and sing with a new cafe artist named Rags, and I landed an opportunity to do a monthly gigs DJing at the cafe on every first Sunday. Although due to the lack of customers/audience, I'm debating if it's worth my time and effort (It's not my first time there to realize how dead business is at the cafe. I know I should push for gigs to attract audience/customers, but I need to keep my project priorities in line. Committing myself to this blog is pretty much a record of my artistic side of life, but also consumes a lot of time and is officially one of my priorities).

June jamming on the keys

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

June and Rags

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

After the gig ended, June and I split and I went on biking around the city. I passed by the Americana and bumped into some people I saw while DJing the art walk; I decided to sit with 'em and hang out for awhile. Americana is a restaurant that has huge $1 glass beers of blue ribbon and a $5 dollar pitcher (not bad when you're budgeting with pennies and nickels).

MC Danger standing in front of Black Market

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

I met up with Paul again and he invited me to an mc session at the Black Market store, one block away from the art walk. I ended up missing out in the mc session due to my run in with DJ Abel at Alpha Cult (just across the street from Black Market). He was DJing an art gallery at the store and shared a funny story about some unfortunate venue manager and his "DJ-less" valentines event. We also conversed about our history of DJing, how we got into it, music influences that led up to it, and shared old stories from back in the days of being young snotnosed tikes.

Alpha Cult.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

dj Abel.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

i'm a pizza.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

After a long day of adventuring, I headed home. Surprisingly I bought a ye olde english Dunny from Alpha Cult. I not big in buying these toys but I figured that I'd be a nice addition to my small collection of kidrobot characters chillin' in my front window sill.

Rain man.

From Valentines Day 2.14.09

I also figured that since it's been so rainy lately that it'd be a reasonable purchase to symbolize the weather.

Stay tuned for pt. ii of my valentines day adventure. It would have ended here but the night still continued, following with chicken n waffles and an Asian gay bar (exciting huH!?)

Below is the link to the gallery:
Valentines Day album 2.14.09

Jazzy Flunky Sole Vol. 1

2009-02-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of summer 2008, I was pushing myself to make as many mixes possible and was able to create this mix, a Jazz/Funk/Soul mix. A lot of my mixes have been fairly short due to my limited time, yet I will be pumping as much as possible regardless of mix length (as my former theater professor would say, "writing on demand," which in this case is obviously DJing).

Jazz Flunky Sole Vol. 1

I'm hoping to deliver listeners a series of different genres. My last mix post featured straight ahead jazz, this mix on the other hand features more of a soul and jazz sound with a teaspoon of funk. I hope ya'll enjoy it.

I lost the playlist to this one but I hope to rebuild it soon for all you listening fans out there.

First few shots from my new camera.

2009-02-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

I was grateful to finally get my new camera from my hommie seth on Monday, and it feels like an entire new level of photography (it's what you expect after shooting with a p&s all your life). Even though I've been constantly busy this past week (figuring out my school schedule, keeping up with class, routinely waking up between 6:50-7am [can't believe I was able to wake up for zero period back in highschool]), I was able to sneak in a few moments of picture taking.

McIntosh Center @ CSULB

Go Beach

For the victims of war...

Shots from the art locker rooms

Pink chair

White door.

Locked.

PCP headz #1

PCP headz #2

Kirby!

These pictures aren't anything extravagant; I'm experimenting with the settings and adjusting to these new features that my previous camera never had (RIP). I hope that in the future I'll master this camera (and photoshop) to deliver more artistic and hi-quality stuff. In the mean time, it's a hit n' miss shooting spree.

Free Fusion Vol. 1

2009-02-11T23:57:00.000-08:00

After blogging, nonsense researching and sleeping at 4am last night, waking up at 7am to move my car due to street sweeping, making this mix this morning at 8am after a failed attempt to re-slumber, and planning mixes and future blog entries ahead of time around 10am, spending a quick and frustrating 45 minutes trying to upload music files, starting my day at noon, coming back home by bus at 10pm, realizing by 11pm that uploading music to wordpress is easy, I gave myself a pat on the back for a long day's work.

I was debating between making a "soulful good morning," kicking off with "Let's Do It Again" by Staple Sisters, or a straight ahead/avant garde/fusion jazz mix. After dropping the needle on Passport's "Eternal Spiral," I knew the hard-forward sound was the right path for me.

Playlist:1. Passport - "Eternal Spiral"
2. Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - "Beginning Again"
3. Weather Report - "Medley: Vertical Invader, Dr. Honoris Causa"
4. Billy Cobham - "The Pleasant Pheasant"
5. Donald Byrd - "Street Lady"
6. Horace Silver - "The Sophisticated Hippie"

Free Fusion Vol. 1

take it from the top... measure one

2009-02-11T02:12:00.000-08:00

so begins a new period of my life where i sacrifice time to jot down a bit of personal life and useful (or useless) knowledge, hoping to conceive a page that will benefit for future readers and myself.

i dedicate this blog to my art: photography and music (mixed in with a pinch of "shows, travels and knowledge dropping information" [i promise you that i'm trying my best.])

i've contemplated on making this page for months (if not, years), but after my recent purchase of a semi-pro camera and inspiration from friends' blogs, i finally persuaded myself to pursue my neglected dream, forming a photo/record digging music blog.

although my web title is pending, address is uninspiringly practical and my experience with blog designing and html is below ground level, i'm very optomistic to make it all happen.