I have some very creative friends! Big thanks to my girl Amy Wang for making me these fantastic record dividers. Way better than the plain white dividers I currently use.
The 45 Brains
Thoughts on the 45 rpm record and related adventures
The Payback Vol 14 with DJ Yeah Right
I’m looking forward to rocking with Dj Yeah Right this friday at Monarch SF! Great drinks, great music, and great dancers on the ceiling hoop thing. You just can’t go wrong, and it’s always free.
You should also check out Yeah Right’s design portfolio, the man is multi-talented!
When to Overdose
Every once in a while I come upon a song that just floors me. Something about it just uppercuts me, knocks me out, and the feeling is bliss. Unfortunately, what follows is disaster. I drop everything and rush to find out the name of the song, and once I have it… it’s disgusting. I listen to the song over, and over, and over again – ad nauseum. Sometimes 10-20 times straight for a few days, until I eventually OD. At which point, I can not stand to hear even the bassline. I’ve lost my taste for a lot of great songs because of this awful habit and I’m now very wary of it, sometimes going cold-turkey from a song just so it doesn’t lose that buzz.
This sort of thing happens every few months. Last few hits I can recall were when DJ Lucky played “Debra Lewis – What You Gonna Do?” at his Slow Jams night. I ran to the stage and jotted down the title and label, only to buy it online that very night. Another time, DJ Slopoke was rocking Churchkey for Beer with Soul and then unleashed a “Crazy” cover by Booker T that I had to get that instant. I went home and listened to it until I puked, figuratively.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t careful, and at the moment, I do not have a taste for either song.
And here’s the news: just a little over an hour ago, I started listening to what I know will be a fantastic mix by DJ Cortez that he did for Wicked Jazz Sounds. Right away this mix is a head nodder and just what I need for this long and seemingly endless workday. The mix started off right, but I haven’t gotten passed the third song – the song that propelled me to write about this ‘music = drug’ addiction: Lynn Carey and Neil Merryweather’s “Five Days on the Trail”. I’m currently on listen number 5 or 6 and I’m not sure I’m going to stop anytime soon. I know it’s going to be bad for me, and I won’t be able to listen to it in the future. But the current me wants to feel this high.
The Payback One-Year Anniversary
Can’t believe a year has come and gone already! Gonna make the one-anniversary party pop.
For those who have been sleeping, The Payback is a monthly all-vinyl dance party brought to you by yours truly and a special guest DJ. Every 2nd Friday of the month, the Monarch Lounge gets to swim in four hours of sweet sweet soul, funk, and R&B.
For the one-year anniversary, I had to have something special lined up.
Flyer by @The45Brains
First off, I’m proud to have my man DJ Slopoke back on. Long time vinyl slinger, Slopoke is definitely an inspiration for a newcomer like myself. I had him on for Volume 7 of The Payback and everyone I talked to wanted him back. If you ever have a free wednesday, make sure to check him out over at Churchkey (Grant and Green) for his weekly DJ night called “Beer with Soul”.
And Slopoke put me in contact with DJ Harry Duncan and the two of them are tag teaming the anniversary party. Harry D is a longtime Bay Area-based producer of live soul, funk, R&B, jazz, blues, roots reggae, African and World music shows. He has produced and hosted “In The Soul Kitchen”, the popular roots music show on KUSF, and KUSF In Exile, since 1984. The man is definitely a legend when it comes to knowing music and he’ll sure bring some rare, rare, rare cuts you’ll only hear at The Payback. Respected industry-wide as an innovator, Duncan integrates his years of experience as a live music producer, radio producer and host into the “Sounds Of Roots and Rhythm Project”.
Recent Appearances for Harry Duncan Include:
- Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples (Greek Theatre/Berkeley)
- The Roots – NYE Show (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- Tedeschi – Trucks Band – NYE Show (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- Boz Scaggs, Gregg Allman, Jonny Lang (Uptown Theatre/Napa)
- Tower of Power (Fillmore/SF)
- Dr. John and The Lower 911 (The Independent/SF)
- Madness, The Specials (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- Gov’t Mule (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- The Original Meters (The Independent/SF)
- Jessie Ware (The Independent/SF)
- Warren Haynes’ Tribute to Sly Stone (Warfield Theatre/SF)
- Bruce Hornsby (The Independent/SF)
- Cyndi Lauper Memphis Soul and Blues Show ( The Independent/SF)
- Little Feat (Uptown Theatre/Napa)
- Lee Fields and The Expressions (Bimbo’s 365 Club)
- The Selecter and Lee Scratch Perry (Regency Ballroom/SF)
To Hear Music Samples, Listen To Any of the “In The Soul Kitchen” Radio Shows Posted On:
www.inthesoulkitchen.blogspot.com
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Thanks to DJ M3 and the good folks at Monarch for making The Payback such a special event. The drinks are always delicious and bound to get people off their seats.
Skeme on Crate Raiderz
Check out the latest Crate Raiderz episode which featured Skeme Richards.
Skeme’s been on my shortlist of mentors and inspirations when it comes to knowing your craft and creating your own niche. It’s definitely a treat to get a quick peak into his laboratory. No matter what city you are in, make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for the traveling all-45 party known as Hot Peas and Butta.
Best quote from the Crate Raiderz episode is Skeme saying: “as a music lover, I’m missing out on a whole lot of music”.
The Payback Vol 10 w/Jon Sweaterfunk
Damn, haven’t written anything here in a while.. That’s gonna change. But for now… I definitely have to share this momentous occasion. Drum roll — Jon Sweaterfunk will be blessing the Monarch turntables this friday. I can’t wait to play some fun records with the man!
The Payback Vol. 9 w/Cookie Crew
I’m looking forward to this one! I got DJs Lil Smiley and S’Mouse on deck (together they make up Cookie Crew). Surely gonna be a good time.
Take a look at those cakes with Dante
My man Dante was in town for two days last week and he had a mission in mind: Hit up all 3 Amoebas (SF, Berkeley and LA). He made sure to visit our favorite shops in the Lower Haight on Thursday but on Friday I teamed up with him for some record shopping fun. Our plan was to make a loop from my house to Rasputin on Powell, hop the bart to Berkeley and visit the Amoeba and Rasputin there, eat lunch with the lovely Ari, then head back to SF’s Amoeba and trickle our way down to Groove Merchant’s, Black Pancakes, and Rookie Ricardo’s. Unfortunately time was unforgiving and we got lost a few times, so we couldn’t make all of the spots on our list. But we got a ton of cheap on-fire records! Dante even had to buy a new bag to carry his goods. Here are a few photos of the trip.
Fresh Jamz Five Year Anniversary is Tonight!
My man and kindred spirit DJ Delgado is celebrating the five year anniversary of Fresh Jamz with his partner, DJ Odiaka. They got a heavy lineup and they’re kicking it off early!
And to boot, Delgado got interviewed for SF Weekly. Great read on the current scene and other goodies.
See you guys there tonight – there’s a free mix in it for you and a great party for sure.
And after that, heading back to SF to check out Diamond D and The 45 Sessions gang.
The 45 Brains 