There’s things that have been going on inside my head, in the gym, and in my workplace that have made this a seriously long week, and I’m just glad to get through it all. I know everyone’s missed Old School Wednesday, and along that same token, even though I have lots of things around me, I’m lacking one small thing, and that’s time.
Not to say there isn’t a lot of good stuff out there, because there is. Let me shine some light onto three blogs specifically that have been lighting me up for the past couple of days.

1. Todd Kelley’s Old School Wednesday was my personal highlight, and I forgot to mention it and give him his props. I grew up in the south and Zapp was played so frequently, I could pretty much sing all the songs from memory.
2. Toshi’s Groovy Mix Volume 1. I would be lying if I said I had ever heard half of these songs. It’s eclectic, it’s danceable, and it’s great stuff.
3. J. Brotherlove’s Deck The Halls With Drum n Bass. J introduced me to drum and bass a while back and while my favorite music these days is mellow, electronica grooves, there’s great stuff that I often miss when my mind is strictly in the old school vibe. I’ve got to say he’s taught me well.

There’s a lot of thoughts going on in my head, mostly my top 10 of the year, but it’s coming slowly but surely. It’s getting harder, however, considering there’s some really good stuff out now and I’m not sure how fair it would be to put something in that I just started listening to a week ago.
Enjoy, people, enjoy. There’s a little something for everyone.

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You too can work at 16 hour day, miss The Apprentice, and still manage to do
a radio.blog. Had to keep myself energized, too, so I got a little help…

Friday Melodies XX – Working OT: Rap and Hip Hop.

We’re doing all hip hop/rap inflected music today, because my homey Godizus*
was able to drop quite a few of these tunes to me while I was setting up for the
long evening ahead. He’s got wisdom and a magic touch. Check it.

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It’s been a long week.

Friday Melodies XIX – The
Original Way, and now A
New Way. I’m still working on the new way and it has it’s kinks, but it’s
pretty nifty. We have Ofrenda
to thank for this hookup.

Continue reading “friday melodies xix” →

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Music has gotten me through this week. It’s been a little stressful (ok, very
stressful), and I’m sure I could talk about work forever, but I think I’d rather
just listen to music. Let’s end it on a high note, shall we? There’s hip hop,
there’s mellow music…in fact, there’s a little house here too.

Mixing it up
a little– Friday
Melodies XVIII.

Two tracks (2 and 7) are from Rafael Saadiq’s Ray
Ray album, but the one that is most special to me is the track Rifle
Love, with Tony Toni Tone and Lucy Pearl accompanying him. Tracks 1 and
8 are from Jon B’s new album, Stronger
Everyday. Notice the vocal stylings (!) of Dirt McGirt in Everytime.

Track 10 is from Lyfe Jenning’s Lyfe
268-192 album. Cheryl Lynn’s Sweet Kind of Life is a nice track
off of the Shark
Tale soundtrack. Be Yourself by Joi Cardwell
is from the awesome house CD Blaze
Presents Artists United for Life.

Nod your head. It’s a little bit of everything. Enjoy.

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After doing such a superb job with OSW and having a great week at work, I thought
maybe I’d just skip the Friday Melodies and try to post something a little more
substantial. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I’d
leave out a piece of myself to start the weekend off with. Besides, there were
a couple of things going on that I couldn’t just let fall by the wayside:

1. KB’s third
anniversary of Buccho. Listen to his Friday Melodies. Read about it. Show
your support.
2. Ray talks about Sexomania.
3. Lis had Wendy And Lisa’s I’ve Got No Strings in
her radio.blog, which made me find this
interview with the two.
4. Lynne’s man Q is really
getting his scribe on.

Dropping the tunes late in the evening, but the weekend’s just beginning, right?
Right.
Friday
Melodies 17.

Groove it forward.

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I said it before, and I’ll say it again….and as Michelle,
JT,
and KB
said it: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Make
your donation, show your support. All day. Every day.

Onward and upward. Friday
Melodies 16.

This one’s also an A Side/B Side. The A side is comprised of some songs that made
me feel good, with quite a bit of it from recommendations from others. Side B
is a direct result of Lalah Hathaway’s new album Outrun
The Sky. Several of the tracks were produced by Mike City, inspiring me to
go back and pull some of his production from the not-so-distant past.

Side A:
01 – "Rise" by Martin Luther. When Trent
speaks, I listen. I wanted to place more tracks of his in this mix, but a little bit
every week is good.
02 – "Down Here In Hell" by Van Hunt.
03 – "Testin’ Me" by Pevin Everett. This song was part of the
mix of Unabombers’s first release of Electric
Soul. Obtaining the second set and liking it so much made me go back and pull
the first release.
04 – "Maybe" by Eric
Roberson. From Esoteric. This song always makes me smile.
05 – "Hard Times" by Queen Latifah. From The Dana
Owens Album, the new release. I’m impressed by this album.
06 – "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story [Away Team Mix]" by Shirley
Bassey. This is from the Supperclub
Presents Lounge, Volume 3. I liked this because it added heavy beats to a
classic song. Quite different.
07 – "Let Me In" by Larry
Heard. From the new CD, Love’s
Arrival. Mellow house.
08 – "Show Me Love" by D’Influence featuring Sarah Anne Webb.
One can hope for a reunion, right?

Side B: Mike City
09 – "A Little Sunshine" by Sunshine Anderson. The release
first single released, Heard It All Before, was well known, but there were several other
highlights on the album. This was the one I wished was released.
10 – "I Wish" by Carl Thomas. We can’t call it old-school,
according to the definitions above, but we can certainly say it’s a great song,
can’t we?
11 – "One Woman Man" by Dave Hollister.
12 – "Full Moon" by Brandy.
13 – "Love It" by Bilal.
14 – "Better and Better" by Lalah Hathaway. It’s on her just-released
album Outrun The Sky, one of my favorite cuts from the CD.
15 – "No Place Like Home" by Blu Cantrell.
16 – "Make It Right" by Carl Thomas.

Everybody needs a little sunshine to brighten up their day.

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You didn’t think I forgot did you?

Friday Melodies XV.

01 – "Bandy Bandy" by Zap
Mama. Complete with Erykah Badu. I’m sure if you haven’t heard this yet, you’re
missing out.
02 – "She’s Got Soul" by NSM. From The
Unabombers, of course.
03 – "The Oldest Story" by P’Taah. It’s an interesting album.
04 – "Popular" by Taja Seville. Wonder where she is these days.
05 – "Dedication" by Beef Wellington featuring Melissa Mya.
This is from Unabombers also, but the most interesting thing
happened: in one of the scenes of the premiere of The
Wire this season, this song was being played by one of the trucks rolling
down the street in one of the scenes between the cats on the street. I still rewind
that scene constantly.
06 – "Sunshine" by Antonique. From Soul
Lounge Part I.
07 – "After Party" by Koffee Brown. I hate to say it, but they
were one-hit wonders. This was the hit.
08 – "Something Real" by Seek.
09 – "Runaway" by Eric
Roberson. From his new CD, Esoteric.
10 – "Yaku" by Zap Mama. I can sing this tune and not have
things thrown at me.
11 – "How Close" by Shara Nelson. From What
Silence Knows.
12 – "Won’t Take No" by Joel Virgel. Very cool guy to just
shoot the breeze with.
13 – Miracle from St. Juste.
From The Confession Booth Sampler.

Don’t stop, you ain’t gotta stop.

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Picture this – I’m sitting here watching The
Apprentice. The task? For them to make a new flavor for their ice cream
and sell it. That’s two new flavors to be created.

Flavors.
Flavors!!
See where I’m going with this?
Oh, da hell with it! *wink*

Friday
Melodies XVI.

This mix is a thank-you for a couple of people who sent CDs to me, plus a little
bit of a tease to some of the bloggers who have been expressing interest to
certain tunes from previous radio blogs and exponent. You know who you are.

01 – Anthony David
– Spittin’ Game. For a certain person who swoons over Anthony David
melodies. One word: inspired.
02 – Nubian Minds featuring KJ – Dreaming. Three words: mack daddy
cut. From Unabombers:
Electric Soul 2.
03 – Blue Six – Pure. This is for someone who was looking for Naked
Music: Bare Essentials, Volume 1.
04 – Dynasty – I’ve Just Begun to Love You. Someone didn’t remember
anything from Dynasty, so I had to pull this out of the crate. A little head
noddin’ old school.
05 – Only Child featuring Niko – Show Me Love. Off of Only Child’s Solitaire and Grand Central Translation: A Mix by Qool DJ Marv.
06 and 07 – Nicki Richards’ Sunshine and DJ Chus and David Penn featuring
Darren J. Bell’s Sunshine (Mediterranean Vocal Mix). Sunshine personified.
08 – Wendy and Lisa – Everyday. From Fruit at the Bottom.
09 – Fertile Ground – Live In The Light. From …Black Is.
10 – St. Juste – Big Shoes. A cool guy named Ian, the maestro of Notes
from A Different Kitchen, dropped this my way. Pound pound.
11 – Ernesto – Especial. Pulling yet another one out of my stack.
12 – Incognito – True To Myself. Back to the mellow.

Back to watch the the ice cream melt.

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I had this sitting out for a while, and didn’t post last week.
I’m going to lift my spirits though, and let’s hope I can lift yours.

Friday
Melodies XIII.

01. Sincere – The
Foreign Exchange with Yahzarah. This is a song I see being released from
The Foreign Exchange – being that I haven’t seen any releases as of yet, I’m
anxious to hear something.
02. Talk to Me – Jill
Scott. I haven’t received an *umph* yet from this album, but this track
speaks volumes.
03. Another Day – Fertile Ground. From the new release Black
Is…. I’m currently vibing with them.
04 & 05. Grenique and Heatwave – Star of the Story. There were
a couple of comments left that suggested that Grenique’s remake of Star of the
Story was not good. Asking your opinion now….which one is better, in your
opinion?
06. Anthony David
– Heartstrings. I’m absorbing the low key song. Saw him as an opening
act for Omar and the album is much better than I expected. I’ll be featuring
more as the month goes on.
07. Beanfield with Ernesto – Someone Like You. Electronica vibrations.
08. Loopless – Educated Fools (Waiting On).
09, 10, and 11. Minneapolis representation – Be Your Man from Jesse
Johnson, Housequake from Prince, and Shortberry Strawcake,
from Sheila E.

I’m whistling Star of the Story – trying to get past the hurt.

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I’m trying to be good and go to bed early so I can wake up funky fresh on Friday.
Anthony David is
gracing the night with his release party for his CD.

Friday
Melodies XII.

01. Ernesto – Soul Creation. From Ernesto’s Album. Exponent vibe forthcoming.
02. Foreign Exchange – All That You Are. I’ve been stuck in the hip-hop mood.
Actually, trying to categorize them as hip-hop might be a little too constricting,
since their vibes encompass nu-soul and jazzy vibes as well.
03. The Family – River Run Dry.
04. Naked Music NYC – If I Fall. From What’s On Your Mind.
05. Goapele f/Papa Love – Ease Your Mind.
06. Caron Wheeler – Blue (Is The Colour of Pain).
07. Loopless – Is The Phone Broke or Something? They’re the second
set that’s been in my head all week as well. This song is reminiscent of Randy
Crawford and the Crusaders. Check it out.
08. Mint Condition – Back to Your Lovin’.
09. Boney James with Dwele – Break of Dawn. Mellow personified.
10. Dwele – Let Your Hair Down. From Subject.
11. Lucy Pearl featuring Q-Tip and Snoop Doggy Dogg – You.
12. Case – Shine.
13. Stevie Wonder – All I Do. Case was on the Stevie vibe, so it
was only proper to continue by gracing our ears with Stevie himself.
14. Blaze – Wishing You Were Here. A little house always helps.
15. Timmy Gatling – Rock Me Good. Finishing up on the old-school tip.

Hear this, and listen with your heart…..

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It’s the end of a busy workweek and there’s not much to report. All I know is
that Lynne, Ronn,
and a couple of other Leo’s have had birthdays that have kept
themselves under the radar.

Everything else? Well, it’s the music of course.
1. Jamie Cullum’s
CD Twentysomething
has just arrived, so I’ll be absorbing that this weekend, captivated by Michelle’s
testimony of it.
2. Swing Out Sister‘s
new CD, Where
Our Love Grows, was released last month overseas. You know I couldn’t wait,
so it’s in my player this weekend as well.
3. Swing Out Sister, Jean
Grae, and Boney James
CDs were in my hands on the same day. Eclectic or strange? You decide.

And yes, I have not forgotten. There’s a lot that needs to be said about exponent
this weekend. That’s my main goal right now, so stay tuned.

Friday
Melodies XI.

01. Swing Out Sister – Love Won’t Let You Down.
02. Heavy – Do For
You. I received their EP from Moods Music. I’ll disperse more info as I
can get my hands on it.
03. En Vogue – Losin’ My Mind. From Soul
Flower.
04. Incognito – Close My Eyes.
05. Next – Too Close.
06. Black Eyed Peas featuring Esthero – Weekend.
07. DJ Zeph – Midnight Crewsade.
08. Santessa – Irresistable. From Delirium.
09. Michael Johnson featuring Santessa – Play The Game. From Vibrations.
10. Jean Grae – Love Song.
11. Platinum
Pied Pipers featuring Neco Red – I Luv 2 U. From Extra Medium’s
Bill. He got
me hooked.
12. Loose Ends – Don’t You Ever (Try To Change Me).
13. Teena Marie – Hit Me Where I Live. From La
Dona. I still have mixed feelings about this CD. Not as good as I want it
to be.
14. Swing Out Sister- Let the Stars Shine.
15. Jamie Cullum – Frontin’. I loved this outtake of the original.
16. Goapele – Closer.

Love won’t let you down.

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Can we talk?

I haven’t blogged the entire week because I’ve been in a pretty down mood, with
my work assignment in danger of ending on Friday the 13th with no hope of a
followup gig. I’m happy to say that it’s been confirmed that EJ will not need
to be workin’ at the car wash. Of course this also means that I need to catch
up to sending some CDs out (I’m sure the Burn-It people aren’t
happy with me right now), send gifts out to some wonderful people, blog
about the Prince concert, and let you know what’s going on in this head
of mine.

1. Anita Baker’s album, My Everything, comes out on September
7th. If you’re an Anita Baker fan, pre-order
the album now. The first two tracks on this selection are two of the songs
that stuck with me.
2. On the other side of the coin, Jazzanova’s …Mixing
was released this summer. It’s a very different vibe and a great CD in and of
itself. Three tracks here are from that CD.
3. George Michael’s album Patience
was recommended
by the lovely Cecily and I was slow in picking it up.
4. Res? Sister
Outsider said so.
5. After hearing Beverley
Knight with Jamiroquai,
I wondered when
I would hear more from her. I found out she had one album out, but I didn’t
pick it up. Talk about missing the train! Her fourth
(yes fourth) album, Affirmation, came out this summer also.

Close your eyes and count to 10…
Flavors
Friday X.

01. Anita Baker – Close Your Eyes.
02. Anita Baker – You’re My Everything.
03. Eddie Jackson – You Make Me Want to Smile Again. From
Red Star Sounds, Volume 1: Soul Searching.

04. Aya – Do What You Want.
05. Res – Ice King.
06. George Michael – Cars and Trains.
07. Beverley Knight – Salvador.
08. Don Scribbs – When Your Ups Are Down. Also from Red Star Sounds.
09. Jazzanova – Dance The Dance (AtJazz Remix).
10. Res – Let Love.
11. Angela Winbush – Treat U Rite. Back to the old school. Production
by Chuckii
Booker.
12. Baby Blue featuring Glenn Lewis – Hot Girl.
13. Jazzanova featuring Nicola Kramer, Clara
Hill, and Georg Levin – Let Your Heart Be Free. A remake of a Patrice
Rushen tune.
14. Beverley Knight – Keep This Fire Burning.
15. Sirius Mo – U-Again. Also from …Mixing.
16. George Michael – Flawless (Go To The City). I saw the
video and thought it was hilarious.
17. Beverley Knight – Come As You Are.

Let your heart be free.

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It’s a feel-good vibe I have for you this weekend.

Flavors
Friday IX.

01. Central Living- Inside. It’s from Bare
Essentials, Volume Two. Central Living’s vocalist, Lisa Shaw, can be heard everywhere, most notably with Miguel Migs.
02. Beanfield with Bajka- Home. From Seek.
03. Blue 6 – Music and Wine (Th’ Attaboy Vocal). From Bare
Essentials, Volume One
04. Slave – Just a Touch of Love. Air bass. That’s
all I’m sayin’.
05. Groove Collective- Everything is Changing (Swag Mix). A great instrumental, also
from Bare
Essentials, Volume One. Almost
06. Madvillain Featuring Stacy Epps – Eye. The absorption from this
album comes from Mister JT
and Trent, who’ve
both listed it as one
of the finest albums, if not one of the most innovative, so
far this year. I’m feelin’ it.
07. Aquanote – All Over You. Because I’m feeling Naked Music and their
vibes these days. Also from Bare Essentials, Volume 2.
08. A Tribe Called Quest- Go Ahead In The Rain. From People’s
Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.
09. Madvillain – Curls.
10. Loose Ends – Love’s Got Me. From Look
How Long, Loose Ends’ final CD. Feelin’ a little funky.
11. Adriana Evans – Trippin’.
12. Towa Tei with Bahamadia and Viv. Happy. From Sound
Museum. Someone
else was on the Bahamadia tip, so I had to pull this one out.
13. Kid N’ Play – Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody. Old school hip hop, part
two.
14. Lewis Taylor – Madman. From stoned,
part II.
15. Power Station – Some Like It Hot. If not air bass, then definitely
drums.

Just a touch of love. A little bit.

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I’m up late at night workin’ and I have to stay awake. Good thing music’s keeping
me up. Yesterday as I went to the record store to purchase a couple of new CDs,
two interesting things happened:

1. Trina Broussard was playing;
2. Incognito’s new CD had just arrived.

Trina Broussard’s most familiar song was on the Love
Jones soundtrack – a remake of the Minnie
Ripperton song Inside My Love. Although the song is not
on her new CD, The Same Girl, the album is not a dissapointment. Three songs
are included here for your listenin’ pleasure.

Incognito’s
back with the CD Adventures
in Black Sunshine, this time with Maysa
on seven tracks. Needless to say, I’m very impressed with the CD. Hope you will
be too.

Flavors
Friday VIII.

01. Trina Broussard – No Way Out.
02. Aquanote – True Love.
03. Incognito – Don’t Turn My Love Away.
04. Trina Broussard – These Are The Days.
05. Incognito – The World Is Mine.
06. Magic Number – Everyday (Instrumental).
07. Trina Broussard – Joy.
08. Walter Jones – GC’s Theme (Instrumental). from Lounge
Candelas Version II, also released this week.
09. New Birth – It’s Been A Long Time. The wayback machine was stuck
in front of me for a sec.
10. Incognito – Listen to the Music.
11. Incognito – True To Myself.
12. Aquanote – Come Around.
13. Mocca Soul – Deep Sea So Blue. Soul || Soul anyone?
14. Cee Lo – Evening News (featuring Chazzle and Sir Cognac). You
know how I do.

Let the sunshine in.

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I’m trying to elevate myself out of the stress that is work to hang out in
New York City with the cool people this weekend. I find myself needing to be
more mellow and less postal.

In my mind:

1. The blogpham is scheduled to hang in NYC on Sunday. Want to hang? Email me
and/or stay tuned to this site as things develop.
2. I got inundated with spam so some comments got deleted inadvertedly (memo
to Six Apart: bring back MT Blacklist!) I’m restoring the comments from previous
posts, but it’s a lot of cutting and pasting. Don’t worry, the love is there,
even if you can’t see it.
3. I’ve got three double plays in this arby:
You’ll see two cuts from Brigette McWilliams. When the album came out, J.
Brotherlove bought Take
Advantage of Me and played it nonstop, and of course I had to purchase it, its tunes etched into
my brain forevermore. It didn’t stay in my house long, floating away like half
of my collection always seemed to. He had it in his hands again a week ago,
and of course I had to spin it.
4. I now have the Magic
Number CD That
Day, and it’s my favorite Neo Soul, Electronica, mellow groove CD so far
this year. Seeing it sell out at the record store not once but twice made me
feel good about getting one of the first 5 to enter into the store. I feel a
review coming on.
5. Who dropped the knowledge ’bout Miguel
Migs? Jason T aka NegroPlease,
and being in the mellow mood, I had to pick it up again and spin it around.

Flavors
Friday VII.

01. Brigette
McWilliams – Cherish This Love. A cut from a decade ago.
02. D’Influence
– Shake It.
03. Magic Number – Suddenly.
04. Miguel Migs – One Wish For Me.
05. Magic Number- Fly Away.
06. Alexander O’Neal – What Is This Thing Called Love? Minneapolis
old school still in effect.
07. Don Blackman – Holding You, Loving You. From Another
Late Night.
08. Miguel Migs – The One.
09. Brigette Williams – No Groove Sweating. A Marvin Gaye vibe in full
effect.
10. Miguel Migs – Soul Vibe. Speeding it up a little.
11. After 7 – No Better Love.
12. Cameo – Skin I’m In.
13. Blackalicious – Green Light: Now Begin. Still movin’. Still groovin’.
14. Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away.
15. Heart – There’s The Girl. Nothin’ wrong with a little pop rock
to end it off.

Green Light: Now Begin.

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