Aurgasm

jazz // funk // anime soundtrack

Yoko Kanno is the mind behind some of the finest anime music out there. Lucky for me, in college I lived down the hall from an anime fan. As the horns from the intro theme song to the popular Cowboy Bepop blared out, I crept down the hall to investigate. After falling in love with a dynamic and unpredictable arrangement, I delve deeper into the songwriter. I found a breadth of vocal and melodic writing in a wide span of genres. Below is a good sampling of her work:

A masterful execution across musical worlds.
The Seatbelts – Tank!
Yoko Kanno – Dreams In A Pie
Yoko Kanno – The Egg and You (ID’d by Tony Cabrera in Name That Artist #1)
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Oftentimes I like to play the “Name that artist” game with my friends. First one to trainspot the tune gets the points. Here’s what I’m guessing the blog equivalent would be:

Once whoever wrote this tune is identified, I’ll post two more tracks from them. And you’ll like those even more. Good luck!

jazz // funk // fusion

I met Dennis Rollins last summer at the Edinburgh Fringe, after catching his phenomenal live show at the Baby Belly, deep in the South Bridge vaults. He has a beautiful enthusiasm about him, a real exuberance that gives away his love for what he does– and it comes out in his music, too, which is all smiles and energetic riffs. But he does soft and tender, too, and his cover of ‘Fast Car’ is as calm and thoughtful as you might expect.

A trombone virtuoso with a real flair.
Dennis Rollins’ Badbone & Co – Shake It Down (track 3 on the Aurgasm Summer Soundtrack)
Dennis Rollins – Fast Car
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Last Tuesday, I received an email from dj, academician and ethnomusicologist Wayne Marshall. Also known by wayneandwax, he holds down a weekly at River Gods in Cambridge, nearly a mile from me. In the email, Wayne invited me to join him to guest DJ at his last night before he heads off to for post-doctorate studies in Chicago.
I accepted but admitted never DJing publicly before and not knowing much about DJ technique–luckily, Wayne assured me this would be fine. Putting together my first DJ mix was much tougher than throwing together party playlists. But for you, I wrote up my process, in case you’d like to do the same!

How to DJ your first set without knowing how

I finished putting together my set with just enough time to drive to the bar. Wayne was a cordial host and the audience was receptive. Playing for a crowd and tweaking dials from a balcony perch was quite a thrill. The free beer didn’t hurt either. :) After my set we had some experimental vocal indie and then some hip hop/rock accordion courtesy of Julz A. Great overall vibe in that place. Chi-town residents, seek out wayne’s future music engagements–he crafts a good time.

In case you stuck with me this long, I’ll reward you with my amateur dj mix. Some transitions are really rough, but I’m pleased with it. Enjoy.

Aurgasm – Breeze and Sweat (55min, 80MB)

Tracklist (cue file)
1. Nuff Wish – Healing In Vain
2. Kinny & Horne – Why Me
3. Dancing Djedi – Body Surfin’
4. Nomo – Hand & Mouth
5. Balkan Beat Box – Sunday Arak
6. Senor Coconut – Mambo Numerique (Featuring Marina And Towa Tei)
7. Quantic & Nickodemus – Mi Swing Es Tropical
8. Amadou & Mariam – M’ Bifé Balafon
9. Quantic Soul Orchestra – Walking Through Tomorrow (Super 8 Part 3)
10. The Bamboos – Step It Up Featuring Alice Russell
11. Mr Scruff & Quantic – It’s Dancing Time
12. Boozoo Bajou – Killer
13. Zuco 103 – Peregrino
14. Captain Planet – The Don
15. Romanowski – Strudel Strut
16. Quantic – Off The Beaten Track (Carmel Remix)
17. Peter, Bjorn And John – Young Folks (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Remix)

dance funk // world breakbeat

Hopefully by now you’ve dropped by Captain’s Crate, the blog of Charlie Bethel, aka NYC’s Captain Planet. The Cap’n has been pushing his eclectic and diverse soundset at parties across The Big Apple for years. His sound is similar to the upbeat jams from Nickodemus, The Theivery Corporation, and Quantic, taking in the best of afrobeat, samba, dancehall, hip hop and house. ‘The Don’ is off his recently released Gumbo Funk EP and features a tight amalgamation of world dance music with serious ass-shaking bounce to it.

They say, “a cross-cultural cornucopia of sound.” I say, straight fire.
Captain Planet – The Don (track 2 on the Aurgasm Summer Soundtrack)
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