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Showing posts from November, 2009

Funk Ain't A Word

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I gathered lots of funky gems in this mix, from the early seventies to the here and now. The edits in this mix are shorter versions of the originals. Bumpy Green blows more than 9 minutes for instance, so I took away a little bit of the middle section. I rebuilt Marvin Gaye's 'A Funky Space Reincarnation' for this mix. The original version of this song (from the album 'Here my dear') has been used for a Dior commercial to promote 'J'adore', with Charlize Theron in it. I’ve always liked Swiss experimental duo Yello. The song I picked is from their latest album ‘Touch Yello’. They show on 'The expert' how James Brown would have sounded if he was still alive today. The Roy Ayers track can be found on Can You Dig It , which came out on Soul Jazz Records. Run to the shops for the brand new Al Kent album, ' Secret Sounds '. It's great! I chose 'Reverb is your friend' for this 'Funk ain't a word' mixtape. Full trackli

Slow & Easy Grooves

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Picture by FreeFoto.com Strangely enough the inspiration for this mix came when I saw Wilson Pickett singing ‘In the midnight hour’ in a very good documentary, called ‘ History of rock ‘n’ roll ’. It remembered me of the slicker Roxy Music version. Although I like the raw voice of Wilson Pickett, the song is more about seducing when Bryan Ferry sings the lyrics. I’m a big fan of his introvert, sophisticated funk. Soul singer Maxwell once said that Bryan Ferry was his biggest influence. It took me almost a year to complete this mix. Only after listening to a set of Japanese dj Daizi I found the right mood to finish it off. So enjoy these midnight grooves! Track listing: Roxy Music – In The Midnight Hour (1980) Zapp & Roger – Slow And Easy (1993) Linn Segolson – Troubled Times (2005) Barbara Lynn – Nice And Easy (1971) Valerie Simpson – Keep It Coming (1972) New Birth – Never Can Say Goodbye (1971) J. Blackfoot – Taxi (1983) Leon Ware – Words Of Love (1982) Kellee

Funk & Soul Surprise Party

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Tomorrow I’ll celebrate my 29th (or so…) birthday and so it’s time for a party! ;-) The George Benson track in this 'Funk & Soul Surprise Party' is from his latest record, called ‘Songs and stories’. This (very smooth) album was produced by bass player Marcus Miller. He worked for Luther Vandross and Miles Davis in the past. ‘ Family reunion ’ is a Rod Termperton composition, the guy who wrote ‘Thriller’ for Michael Jackson of course. I could have chosen for ‘ Nuthin’ but a party ’ from the album, but ‘ Family reunion ’ is a better track, I think. And it's always good to have family reunions at parties! :-) Full tracklist: Ramsey Lewis – Tondelayo Chanson – I Love You More Ruby & the Party Gang – Ruby’s Surprise Party George Benson – Family Reunion Ronnie Jordan & Dana Bryant – The Jackal Pleasure – Space Is The Place Gene Harris – H.R.D. (Boogie) Brand New Heavies – We’ve Got [A Tom Moulton Mix] The Spinshots – Qui Est In, Qui Est Out Edwin Starr – Stop The War

Bump & Hustle Music

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Bump and hustle music? I don’t know what that is, but it sure sounds good to me! This is perhaps my best effort so far to mix up soul, funk and disco. Special attention to Charlie Rich, who is most famous for his million selling country single ‘Most beautiful girl’ (my mom’s favourite track of all-time…). But he sounds best when he’s a soul singer. Listen to ‘Lonely weekends’ for instance. On this new mix for Mixcloud I slipped in ‘Love is after me’ (composed by David Porter & Isaac Hayes), a northern soul classic. Full tracklist: Earth, Wind & Fire – Let Me Talk (1980) Patrice Rushen – Never Gonna Give You Up (1980) Mantra – Here We Come (1981) Glen Adams Affair – Just A Groove (1980) Players Association – Turn The Music Up (1978) Booty People – Somethin’ Simple (1979) A Taste Of Honey – Ain’t Nothin’ But A Party (1980) Darlene McCoy – U-N-I-T-Y (2007) The Rebirth – Evil Vibrations (2004) Johnny Hammond – Gambler’s Life (1974) Marvin Gaye – After The Danc

Professor Mellow presents funky chill grooves

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Funky chill grooves for chilly autumn evenings. Special attention for one of the best Motown remixes ever, done by a certain guy called Professor Eddy… ;-) It’s a rework of ‘Falling in love again’ by Marvin Gaye, from his excellent album ‘Here, my dear’ that was dedicated to his ex-wife Anna Gordy (sister of Motown boss Berry Gordy). To support her financially Marvin and Anna agreed on giving her the royalties of the album. But that was a mistake, because the album didn’t sell at all. And Anna was furious when she heard the lyrics. They were all about their relationship and their legal battle afterwards. His career was slipping through his fingers and eventually Marvin Gaye ended up broke in Oostende (Belgium). Nowadays it’s really a mystery why the album wasn’t a success, because it’s one of his best records. I added a different beat to ‘Falling in love again’, some keyboards and a few other things. I stayed as close to the original as possible, because it’s such a good track. The