Rotatin', Volume 12

First, a little catching up to do...I should have done this a week ago, so don't kill me. Work has been kicking my everloving <insert colorful noun here>, but thanks to the help of some cool people, I've been able to get by every Wednesday. since there's not a lot of time to be able to do these alone. Much love goes out to all of you- you know who you are. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the 2007 Black Weblog Awards. Nominate, vote, and make your opinions known Every vote helps make a difference. Check the site out and make your move.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. This took me awhile, but luckily I've been able to listen to music while at work. You know it's essential to stay awake and keep abreast of all the good music out there, as well as pay homage to those from years past. Presenting:

Rotatin' : Volume 12, August 2007.
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[Podcast/mix available here. Click to play or right click-save as to download.]
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01 - Ananda Project - Where The Music Takes You
02 - Wagon Cookin - Ridin' On The Wind
03 - Tweek - So Natural
04 - Ernesto - Wake Up Just To Find
05 - Pharcyde - Knew U
06 - Common - Break My Heart
07 - Talib Kweli & Madlib - Happy Home
08 - Chrisette Michele - Be Ok
09 - Teedra Moses - Last Day
10 - D'Sound - Talkin' Talk
11 - Giovanca - Joyride
12 - Wouter Hamel - Don't Ask
13 - Benny Sings - We'll Make Lovesongs
14 - Magic Number - Suddenly
15 - Incognito - Tin Man
16 - Jazzanova - Ice

Ananda Project's new CD Fire Flower contains this awesome track that I love and that starts this off nicely. This quasi-instrumental always makes me nod my head. Following up with tracks from Wagon Cookin' and Tweek only make the mix sweeter. I have still been rotating Ernesto's Find The Form CD so it only makes sense to add a track to this mix. I have love for the hip-hop vibe as well, as is evidenced by Pharcyde's Knew U, Common's Break My Heart (that George Duke sample is priceless) and Talib Kweli & Madlib's Happy Home (with vocals by Candice Anderson). Common's CD Finding Forever is, in my opinion, a very strong contender for the top 10 CDs this year. Believe it.

Of course, I dig Chrisette Michele and her track with wil.i.am, and Teedra Moses is still in rotation - I'm eagerly waiting her sophomore effort. These tracks segue into D'Sound, a Norweigian trio that I was only able to find out from a cool cat from England and my last.fm compadre, AlemanYorks. Once I started listening to them, I've made it my mission to track down as much music from them as I could. I started out with the title track from Talkin' Talk which a wonderful CD from start to finish and could have easily been one of my favorite albums of 2006. I'm sure that more rotations will be featuring them as I continue to absorb them.

Now, I veer a little off the traditional R&B/Hip Hop track to jump into some music that I find refreshing. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Benny Sings, so it's no surprise that he's in this mix featuring a cut from his new album, At Home. As I was listening to him, I chanced upon Wouter Hamel and became excited about his album, Hamel, as well. I've been listening to both of them on the regular. Giovanca happens to be on a video with Benny Sings (Blackberry Street) and is also on Wouter's video for Don't Ask, so I had to drop a track from her. Her single Joyride was the perfect segue from D'Sound's track and is a wonderful sign of things to come from her.

I pulled Magic Number out from a while back, since That Day was one of my favorite CDs from 2005, and followed that up with Incognito's remake of America's Tin Man with impeccable vocals by Carleen Anderson. I then cap off the mix with an instrumental track from Jazzanova's Belle Et Fou CD, Ice.

Special shoutout goes out to my man Pil Hill for providing me of backdrop on the intro. He's a force to be reckoned with. Thanks for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this one. Take it light.