Death To Sambo

This blog wasn't originally intended to be about hip-hop, but i'm willing to throw all the rules out the window on this one...

Teo Blake is a dear friend of ours from the heady days at Sarah Lawrence College. Teo, Jordan and I all studied music together, working in the electronic music studio, taking theory, and playing in ensembles. Now, Teo has just come out with his debut album titled Death To Sambo!

The album, as the name would suggest, explores the damaging effects of racism, stereotypes, and, as Teo explains in this promo video, that myths say more about their creators than of their content.

Sonically, Death To Sambo has great color and variety. With a taste for analog gear groomed into him from his days spent in front of the Moog Modular 55, coupled with contemporary nonlinear production techniques, and his lyrical prowess, Teo Blake could easily blow your mind and your house party into the next level stratosphere.

Find it on iTunes
Teo Blake on Myspace

Sweater Funk

Sweater Funk is a weekly boogie, modern soul, stepper party that goes off every Sunday, right in the heart of Chinatown. The location is an undercover Chinese dive bar with sort of a secret basement that's been crudely converted to a dance floor with the help of a spinning party light, a bumping sound system, and a single clamp light behind the DJ booth. The space is sparse and purposeful, you come to Sweater Funk to dance to great music. With it's 13 member crew and growing, Sweater Funk DJ's throw down some of the rarest, funkiest, most soulful tracks you can find on the west coast. The only party comparable is Funkmosphere, Dam Funk's Monday night party located in LA, which is actually what inspired Jon Blunck to start SF in the first place.

Sweater Funk has been a long time favorite party of ours. In fact, it's partially what inspired Jordan and I to start Tres Lingerie, and probably half the reason why I moved out to San Francisco in the first place. And last weekend we had the distinguished pleasure of throwing down an hour and a half set at our favorite weekly party.

Here's the night (sorry about the distortion, the volume got cranked up throughout the night as the height of drunken demonification was reached)...

Tres Lingerie do Sweater Funk mix

Tres Lingerie do Sweater Funk (whole night) mix

Simpson Says Dance

Paul Simpson was a house producer and vocalist in the 80's in NYC. It seems the height of his career was spent making that NJ/NY sounding Todd Edwards style house on Nervous Records and the likes. There was a time I was more into that stuff. It's fallen out of favor with my ears but I still get a kick form it, and I'm sure the next generation of upcoming hipster music bloggers will gravitate to early/mid 90's house music instead of this Boogie stuff I've been delving into recently. That or my friend Tyler's dream will come true and Trance will make a glorious comeback.

This is a track from one of Paul Simpsons early projects called Subject with Winston Jones. If you ever listened to the Chicken Lips DJ Kicks mix CD, there is a track on there by Paul Simpson Connection (another early production attempt of Simpsons, obviously) called "Treat Her Sweater", a Great tune! It's similar, if maybe a little cleaner, in production style to this track "The Magic The Moment". Enjoy, Frantz... and Steve.

Subject - The Magic The Moment

Anya's birthday

It's my sisters birthday today! And rather than just write something on her Facebook page about how silly and awesome she is, I decided to make her this silly and awesome song instead...It's about kiss and Bajs.

Anya's Birthday Song

Late Summer Mix

So, It's been a while. Actually, lets not talk about how long it's been since it will only depress me to think how lazy I've been about posting on this thing. All I can say is that everyone who reads this should thank Steve for keeping on my case about posting on here again.

To welcome back the non existent reader base I have prepared a spontaneous mix of late summer jams for 'yall. It's so spontaneous that it doesn't even have a track list. Deal with it, like you would deal with a pastrami sandwich of immense size from Katz's deli...

Johan's Spontaneous Late Summer Jam Mix

Melody Stewart

Jordan and I recently played a night at Underground SF called CASABLANCA. Needles to say it forced me to look towards more conventional straight disco cuts in my collection. Having obsessed for so long about digging for boogie jams, electro-funk, and more obscure crossover records I'm sure the Lips Inc and Donna Summer records I have stashed in the backs of my crates are feeling neglected and underplayed.... No more!

The first two tracks are by Melody Stewart who I can't really find much info on so if anyone reads this blog and wants to contribute about her let me know. The last two are from a Vertige record I picked up back in 2002 when I first started collecting vinyl. Vertige Productions reside in NYC and according to their website are being "re-constructed", which hopefully means they will be putting out more great disco edit records in the future. Cosmic Force is actually a contemporary group, according to some Discogs discussion, whereas the flip, Clyde Alexander & Sanction, are from the heyday of boogie. Chocolate starfish is an edit by Dimitri From Paris and Got To Get Your Love is reworked by Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales. enjoy...

Melody Stewart - Action Satisfaction
Melody Stewart - Get Down, Get Down
Cosmic Force - Chocolate Starfish
Clyde Alexander & Sanction - Got To Get Your Love

Prism Records

Today we bring you two little ditties from Prism Records. Prism is one of those labels that it's hard to find any thing terrible on. Whenever I come across the Prism logo while digging it usually makes it into my crate at home.

Prism was started in NYC in the late 70's which is where a lot of the cool disco, boogie, and electro funk crossover stuff was coming out of at that time. These two tracks should give you a taste of what Prism has to offer.

Little Toni Marsh - Video Burnout
Pure Energy - Love Game