In an effort to further explore the myriad and "Komplicated" musical tastes of the modern "post-Black" denizens of the world, we present Spin City, which will feature recommendations from some of the world’s finest DJs, headlined by the selections of our own "resident DJ," comic book fan, Star Wars and wrestling aficionado and all around swell guy, the world famous DJ Jedi [Facebook, Twitter and podcast]. He's graciously agreed to drop the science on musicology for you …
What I'm feeling this week …
- Dam Funk, "17 Days (D-F Re-Freak)" off A Prince Mix
So, Dam Funk basically got commissioned by the fine folks at Wax Poetics to do a Prince themed mix for the magazine's land mark 50th issue, where they pay due diligence to The Purple One. Dam goes above and beyond here by curating some of Prince's more obscure treats, and even throws in a few remixes and alternate takes for us to enjoy. "17 Days" is my favorite of the bunch at the moment.
- Will Sessions, "Mix Takes (Take Two)"
With the influx of credible and compelling hip hop cover projects in recent years from the Breakestra, Connie Price & The Keystones, The Rhythm Roots All-Stars, and 2009's Timeless series among others, I think it's safe to say that the era of classically trained musicians who grew in the hip hop generation is finally upon us, and the world is a better place for it. After making waves as the beatsmiths behind 2011's highly ambitious/borderline blasphemous Elmatic (coincidentally, one of my Best of 2011), Detroit hip hop funkateers Will Sessions thankfully don't leave us waiting very long between projects with the release of "Mixtakes", a live remake of some of the band's favorite hip hop bangers, all recorded and performed in real time. They run the gamut from Dilla beat tape joints, to hip hop/rare groove staples like 9th Creation's "Bubblegum." The highlight for me is their meticulously accurate cover of "Take Notice" at about the 5:10 mark. But it's absolute hotness throughout.
- De La Soul, AKA First Serve, The Goon Time Mixtape
De La Soul is the greatest rap group of all time. Period. No qualification. No caveat. De La Soul is The. Best. Rap. Group. EVER. There. I said it. And even with twenty PLUS years in the game (longer than some of you reading this have even been alive), they seem to show no signs of slowing down. So, with that now being out there in the universe, it goes without saying that I make it a point to check for anything they so much as breathe on. From what I can tell, First Serve is a conceptual side project from Plugs One & Two (in the vein of Handsome Boy Modeling School) that will coincide with some upcoming animated movie starring the two, in conjunction with some crazy Flickr account/viral Twitter campaign, yadda yadda yadda…All I know is this mix is way too hot to be this free. In any event, the winner is you, the listener. Try not to sprain your finger downloading …
- J-Dilla, "Excursions" (Produced by House Shoes)
House Shoes hates us all. Every one of us. That's the only reason I can come up with as to why this instantly classic Dilla/House Shoes collabo has never seen an official release. I mean, don't get me wrong: If you're lucky enough to catch Shoes spinning at a show on a night when he's feeling generous, he MIGHT drop 32 bars or so of "Excursions" under a barrage of sirens and explosion effects before immediately mixing into his next track. But if you have any delusions of being able to go into a store somewhere and just buy it, or download it somewhere? Forget about it. With that being said: I stumbled across this minute & a half snippet on youtube recently that was ripped from one of his podcasts that are no longer there. It's not the whole song, but it'll do for now. In a just world, one day this will hopefully see the light of day …
- Flo Finister, "Bang Bang"
Wait…hold up…So lemme get this straight…she's covering the Nancy Sinatra classic? Over the "Shook Ones" instrumental? And it actually sounds GOOD? Yes on all counts. I'm lovin' it!
Upcoming DJ Jedi events:
Monday, 3.12.12
MOMLA: Motown On Mondays
(Jedi, Expo, and occasional spin originals, samples, rarities, covers, and distant relatives of Motown classics)
9pm-2am
Free admission
Location: The Short Stop
1455 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026, 21+
Barring unforeseen challenges, Spin City should be waiting for you, right here on Komplicated.com, every Monday afternoon.
[Source: DJ Jedi]