The Axel F One Year Anniversary Mix

Mixes January 24th, 2012

Had to cook up something special for the big shebang-bang.

Saturday, January 28th. A celebration of one year of all the body-rolling and curl moisturizing you can handle.

Tickets: http://axelf.eventbrite.com

Pre-game with this jammy right ch’ere.

Reverend Brown intro
DâM-FunK – Monster Jam (DâM-FunK Re-Freak 4 Kool Herc)
Gladys Knight & The Pips – Save The Overtime (For Me)
Bobby Nunn – Do You Look That Good In The Morning
Sherrick – Just Call
Vesta Williams – Don’t Blow A Good Thing
Tyrone Brunson – Fresh (Scratch Mix)
Bugz In The Attic – Consequences
RJD2 – A Rollerskating Jam Called Fridays
Aurra – Baby Love (Touchsoul Boogiedub Edit)
Kon & The Gang – Sunlight
Bennson – Let The Love (Yam Who Remix)
Material – Over & Over
Logg – Lay It On the Line (JM After-Session M&M Mix)
Finis Henderson – Skip To My Lou
Janet Jackson – Say You Do
Aretha Franklin – Jump To It
Michael Jackson – Just Good Friends feat. Stevie Wonder
Ollie and Jerry – Breakin’… There’s No Stopping Us (Club Mix)
New Edition – My Secret (Didja Gitit Yet?)
Jamie Foxx – Slow Jam (live)
Midnight Star – Slow Jam
DeBarge – Love Me in a Special Way
Sheila E. – Hold Me
Isley Jasper Isley – Insatiable Woman
Herb Alpert – Making Love in the Rain feat. Lisa Keith and Janet Jackson
Status IV – You Ain’t Really Down (acapella)
Azari & III – Reckless With Your Love
EPMD – It’s Time 2 Party
Raze – Jack The Groove
Aretha Faltermeyer – Who’s Zoomin’ Axel F
The Time – Grace
Prince – Irresistible Bitch (propsEdit)
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Ahmed’s Get It Remix)
Shalamar – Dancing In The Sheets
Dance Avenue – Doing Lines

Check out this sneak peek into the preparations for the Sexual Chocolate Band & Show’s triumphant unveiling at the Axel F anniversary.

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Tweets from the booth, episode 2

Science January 20th, 2012

Another entry in an ongoing series about the realities, challenges and tactics of spinning records in public for pay…

And now, the smash follow-up to episode 1!

A reminder not to always judge a book by its cover.

F**k breakfast, get money.

This is 100% true, 100% of the time.

#everyoneisaDJ

I’ve done this before and no, sir, it’s not a little thing. It’s the type of thing that keeps your soul from dying.

It wasn’t even a smartphone.

*fist pump*

BONUS TRACK:

They missed most of the classics that will never die, but presented some of the others that I’m less familiar with because of the younger/druggier/bro-steppier demographic. I have gotten the “play something more ghetto” one many times.

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Tropical Punch = ALL EQUATORIAL EVERYTHING, Sat. 1/21

Gigs January 17th, 2012

A collection of local DJ crews that focus on global music announces the DC debut of Boogat — a Mexi-Paraguayan (via Montréal) MC & producer whose style spans electronic
pan-Latin sounds, global hip-hop, and beyond. In addition to Boogat’s performance, “Tropical Punch” will feature sets by:

EMPRESARIOS
DJ set w/ Javier Miranda on Congas
Fort Knox Recordings – DC

THE SOL POWER ALL-STARS
Afro.Latin.Brazilian.House.Disco.Funk

MARACUYEAH CREW
Celebrar, Cultivar, Mezclar, Proponer, Boom!

Saturday January 21st
9pm – 4am
$8 in advance (purchase at Som Records & Smash Records)
$10 at the door
Warehouse Loft, 411 NY Ave. NE, WDC 20002.

Tropical Punch at Warehouse Loft, Sat. 1/21

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Axel F anniversary feat. Sexual Chocolate Band & Show, Sat. 1/28

Gigs January 10th, 2012

Axel F Anniversary Party: Jheri Curl Funk, Champagne Soul & Lazer Boogie

In 2011, a concept was born to take a wondrous period of dance music out of the dark and into the light.

This magical time from 1977 – 1987 bore the imprint of the disco age and the promise of the hip-hop era to come. It was the music we partied to when Reaganomics was going hard. A time when your video was not touching hearts and minds without synchronized body rolls and laser light effects.

It’s all the music that no one else ever plays at ’80s parties.

Throughout 2011 we celebrated this music, and you showered it with the love it deserves. We called it Axel F, after Eddie Murphy’s character in Beverly Hills Cop.

This month we celebrate one year of The Illest In Jheri Curl Funk, Champagne Soul & Lazer Boogie.

Saturday Jan. 28, 2012
Liv Nightclub DC
2001 11th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001
$10 in advance
$15 at the door

TICKETS:

http://axelf.eventbrite.com/

with your resident DJs:

Jahsonic, Stylus and Adrian Loving

featuring the Sexual Chocolate Band & Show performing LIVE covers of Axel F era tunes:

Zo!
Deborah Bond
Phonte
Ne’a Posey
N’digo Rose

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Old dudes who still rap better than you

Gigs January 9th, 2012

Coming out of semi-retirement to dust off the old turntables and mics. Getting back in the saddle again has been like a heist film, except no one is going to die.

Also, cop the album.

A.U.P. Presents POWER MOVES Featuring THE POEMCEES and MECHE KORRECT

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NYE 2012: A Vibe Conductor double-play

Gigs December 28th, 2011

I’m playing two gigs for new year’s eve. One early, one late. Both quite different.

Skip the shit show this New Years Eve. Carnaval de Trahison (Carnival of Treachery) is a limited attendance celebration at The Dunes to bid farewell to 2011 and say ‘sup to 2012.

Carnaval Trahison: NYE 2012 at The Dunes

Saturday, December 31st
8:30 pm – 4:00 am
$20
The Dunes
1402 Meridian Place NW, WDC 20010
150 tickets only
Cash/Credit Bar & Food

DJ SETS BY:

- Sam “The Man” Burns
- Soul Call Paul
- DJ Stylus

LIVE MUSIC BY:

- Jonny Grave & The Tombstones
- Alex Vans Band (Ben Tufts killing the drums)

FEATURING:

- Craft cocktails
- Indoor food truck by Tarsier Post-Modern Filipino & American cuisine.
- Huge, projected arcade games on the awful vacant building across the street.

And then later on, ’round 12:30 I’ll be spinning at this joint. Just found out tix are sold out. D’oh! This is just an FYI then…

Saturday, December 31st
8:30 pm – 3:00 am
BYT’s DJs & Beer & Books New Year’s Eve
1800 L St NW, WDC 20036

OPEN BAR (beer and liquor), a best of FotoWeek DC exhibit, giant hamster balls, lasers, and more.

DJs:

Animal Collective
Le Tigre / MEN, JD Samson
Lightwaves
DJ Stylus
The Metaphysical (GKYK)

LIVE BANDS: (playing guilty pleasure cover songs)

The Dance Party
The State Department & Friends Supergroup
(featuring members of Ra Ra Rasputin, Imperial China, Vita Ruins, Lightfoot, & Jeremy Teter)
Sunwolf
Silver Liners
Beyond Modern
Shark Week
The Plural Nouns Supergroup
(featuring members of Loose Lips, Last Tide, Mittenfields, and Lightfoot)
Hiding Places
Dance For the Dying
META

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The Vibe Conductor 2011 Hot List

News December 27th, 2011

It’s not categorized. I only mention albums in passing. It’s not even comprehensive. So much music is released that I can only fully assimilate a trickle of it. These are just ten eleven* joints I liked a lot, played a lot or both. But here’s where my expert concierge service comes in. Every track on this list will touch your soul in some way. Quality always wins over quantity. You can consult your favorite publications and blogs for those massive lists that attempt to be everything to everyone. Some of them are very good. This is just a small slice of 2011 music according to The Vibe Conductor. You can review past years if you’re curious. And now, the joints:

*Nas – “Nasty”

After I posted this, I was reminded that I left off a song I raved about in 2011. That’s because I created this list in hasty, sleep deprived fashion. This correction is a good thing mainly because I noticed that my 2011 list had fewer anthems that made me want to kick strangers in the chest. I’m not always in my subtle, soulful, sexy lane. While Nas isn’t saying anything profound on this track, he’s just saying it profoundly. And the beat is everything that’s good and just in hip-hop. I was never one of the whiners who wished Nasty Nas would return. I just resolved myself to not expecting much from him, but when he wildly exceeded those expectations I was paying attention again. Was a bit let down by the cliché video but it’s still a monster tune.

Thundercat – “For Love I Come”

Still a few years from 30, Steve “Thundercat” Bruner is shaking up the world of modern bass playing, excelling in roles as varied as Erykah Badu and Suicidal Tendencies while anchoring a unit of LA’s most forward thinking soulful music makers. Flying Lotus helped him craft The Golden Age Of Apocalypse, a love letter to jazz fusion and an open canvas of new textures. “Walking” gets the nod from most of the folks who turned me on to the record but this George Duke cover blows my wig back every time.

King – “Supernatural”

These three ladies conquered the world this year with only three songs. I was at a loss for words when I first heard “Supernatural”. Fortunately my man John Murph explains it much better.

Pharoahe Monch – “Still Standing” feat. Jill Scott

I probably had the most visceral emotional reaction to this song than any other I’ve heard this year. I’m just so thankful that Pharoahe Monch is still so ridiculously ill. This song is the sonic definition of triumphant.

Illvibe Collective – “Medicine Men Featuring A.R.M.”

IllVibe Collective - Medicine Men

I remember when this was a quick snippet from a lil’dave beat tape. I played it like it was a released track. Then IllVibe finally dropped the album they’d long promised to make, and the finished version exceeded my expectations. African emcees are not just the future anymore, they’re the right now. Glad that IllVibe had the foresight to grab a few of my favorites for this much played cut.

Phonte – “Who Loves You More” feat. Eric Roberson

I was thinking really hard on what a true grown man hip-hop record would sound like and could only think of a handful of albums that have fierce lyricism, musicality and mature themes that address adult concerns. Then Phonte dropped Charity Starts At Home and I felt like that album was created specifically for myself and my peers.

TiRon & Ayomari – “All My Love” feat. Yummy Bingham

A Sucker For Pumps renewed my faith that hip-hop can exist that appeals to the sensibilities of my generation while formed from the aesthetics of the current one. I hope these cats lead the way. I caned the Yummy Bingham jam at every gig I’ve had since it dropped. Now I can drool over her cameo in the vid.

Dego – “Pushing You To Begin” feat. Ferraz

And thus I begin the black Brit section of this list. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve done some of my finest stannery over the years for cats from this scene, and Dego is a god of it. 4hero, DKD, Silhouette Brown, 2000Black, and finally his own solo project. I struggled with choosing one tune as the album is such a unified whole. You have to experience it that way.

Omar & Zed Bias – “Dancing”

A party demolition bomb. The scenes in the video are what I strive for whenever I get on the decks. Perfection. I can’t imagine what bacchanal madness this inspired at Carnival. It sure did smash Sol Power every time we dropped it.

Donae’o – “I”

After assaulting the dance with “Party Hard” for the last couple of years, I was intrigued when the R&B/UK Funky vocalist dropped this soul stirring anthem on the venerable Strictly Rhythm label. It’s a nice spiritual balance to the club persona in his mainstream music. Sean Mccabe’s remix is embedded here but I’m most partial to the original.

Mark de Clive-Lowe – “The Why” feat. Nia Andrews

A profoundly sexy song. Stuck on repeat for me this year beyond the point that can be defined as obsessive. Mark’s club mix just takes it to another place, as if it were possible to increase the seduction factor. Nia Andrews says yes, it is.

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2011 Rap-Up

News December 27th, 2011

No, Skillz isn’t doing one this year.

And I’m not writing a long treatise about the hippity-hop. This 2010 Pitchfork piece still has that covered.

These are just the last couple of things I wrote that happen to pertain to rappers, and I hadn’t yet posted them here although it’s almost 2012.

Wait, before you read these, make sure you own this album. It’s one of the best favors you can do for yourself if beats, rhymes and heart still matter. DC stand up..

Oh yeah, my crew dropped an album this year too. I think it’s really good. And that’s not just because I was involved. DC stand up… again always.

Aaaand… these guys too. I’m really proud to say they’re part of the DMV. Good brothers, good music, hard work paying off.

Check the vid for “You Don’t Have to Be A Star” and the remix featuring Bahamadia, Monie Love and MC Lyte (!!!)

Ok, now for the other stuff I was talking about…

In concert: G-Side at DC9 (The Washington Post)

I was pleasantly surprised by this duo and had to do an internal reassessment of my feelings on where southern hip-hop is these days. Wish that happened more often.

G-Side at DC9

Common’s Growing Pains (The Root)

Wasn’t feeling Rashid too tough this time around, but I want more from hip-hop, not just from him.

Common - The Dreamer/The Believer

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Afro-Latin Funk at Rock & Roll Hotel, Fri. 12/16

Gigs December 8th, 2011

FUNK FILLED AFRO-LATIN MUSIC SHOWCASE
Friday December 16th, 2011

featuring:

EMPRESARIOS
Performing live & direct, Sabroso!
Fort Knox Recordings – DC

CHEICK HAMALA DIABATE
Malian Griot & Ngoni Master
Grigri Discs – Mali/DC

SOL POWER ALL STARS
Afro.Latin.Brazilian.House.Disco.Funk
DJ Trio w/ Live Percussion – Washington, DC

doors at 8pm, show at 9pm
All Ages Show
$10 Tickets

Rock & Roll Hotel
1353 H Street NE
Washington, DC

12/16: Sol Power All Stars w/ Empresarios & Cheick Hamala Diabate

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Sol Power returns to ESL with guest Lil’ Dave, Sat. 12/3

Gigs December 1st, 2011

Meistro has to sit this one out, so we invited lil’ dave, one of our best friends from Philly’s Ill Vibe Collective to join us again.

dj lil' dave

Sol Power All-Stars at Eighteenth Street Lounge, Dec. 3 2011

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