July 2009 Mixtape: Cross-Country Digging
DJ Ian Head

It's the season of rehearsal dinners and dry cleaning - yes, my friends are getting married. This past June I spent three weeks traveling, mostly by train, around the country to take part in the festivities. Being that one wedding was in Philly and another in Los Angeles, and that I hate flying on planes, AND that I'm currently unemployed, I figured roll Amtrak-style and hit a few cities in-between. New York? Chicago? Pittsburgh? I'm there, kickin it, eatin donuts, Ethiopian food, and digging in a grip of crates.

But there are some limits to this kind of digging. First off, I'm on a strict budget (like I said, un-em-ployed) so I'm givin most of my attention to the dollar bins. Second, I'm not tryin to haul dumb records around with me - I already got all those extra wedding clothes, some books, and my laptop (Did I mention I was co-djing one wedding?). So I had to be choosey. At the same time, if I had come up on a crate full of rare gems for cheap, you know I woulda boxed it up and mailed it home.

But that didn't happen. What did was adventures in stores and flea markets, from Burbank to Brooklyn. Hit some classic spots, can't reveal everything but anyone who runs through Pittsburgh has to hit Jerry's, a landmark record spot with boxes of 45s to the ceiling. Jerry will probably be behind the counter cleaning records.

Zulema "I Wanna Be Where You Are" (Download)

In tribute to Michael Jackson, I thought I'd get the Collected Selections series going again with this cover by Zulema. Really smooth feel - and I always dig women covering songs originally by men, and vice versa - there's usually a whole new feel to a joint.

I was going through a bunch of old 45s and found this, and was surprised I hadn't noticed it before. But that's the beauty of goin through old records - there's always something you might have passed up earlier. FYI - I got lazy, and I don't think the cover above corresponds to where you'll find the song. You'll have to dig it up yourself.

I've been out of town most of June, but Collected Selections will begin again soon.

RIP Michael Jackson.

I grew up listening to this guy, obsessively taping his jams off the radio and watching his videos on MTV. One of the absolute greatest ever. This is truly music that will last generations. I don't know what to say, he just passed too soon.

Some of my favorite MJ songs/videos (my favorite above):

Leave Me Alone

Bad

Billy Jean

Remember the Time

Rock With You

Support Khingz new LP - "From Slaveships to Spaceships" at KHINGZ.COM. Available now on iTunes and CD. Release show in SEATTLE on JUNE 20th!

When my man Khingz was living in Brooklyn in 2003/04, we'd have marathon sessions of music, coffee, politics and laughing at how much Funkmaster Flex would yell on Hot97. In all seriousness, this cat is one of the most amazing lyricists and emcees I've ever heard and I'm definitely humbled to have worked with him. If you doubt my man's skills, check the freestyle below. But I can't do his new joint justice by describing it myself, so I'll let him give you the basics:

"If punk rock and blues met in a dark, cigarette smoke fogged speak easy in Gotham City and were overwhelmed by jazz-induced lust and bore a child they raised in a ghetto to an alternative soundtrack out would come Khingz."

This is independent hiphop at its finest. Please support! 

A Ahmad Jamal video the homie Mario put me on to. The vibe is classic.

June 2009 Mixtape: Summer Fusion
DJ Ian Head

There's the back cover of a Ramsey Lewis record that kinda symbolizes fusion for me. It's one of the first records I ever dug up. It has the whole crew of musicians, chillin, rockin various funky styles of clothing. One dude though - he's rockin these sunglasses with an extra lense in the middle - a lense, possibly, for the metaphysical "Third Eye." It's that kinda vibe - mystical, funky, political, and just plain out there - that's some fusion ish. In that spirit, I play Roy Ayer's "The Third Eye" on this mix.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what "fusion" is. There's jazz fusion, rock fusion, disco fusion - obviously, we're talkin bout the fusing of different sounds, styles, genres, ideas, etc. But did it start in 1977 or 1982? Did certain artists pointedly try making fusion music, or did it just come out sounding that way? Maybe some musical scholar can school me in all this, but to me fusion is just that certain fuzzy, funky, borderline cheesy sound that it seems artists from all genres tried out at one time or another, usually in the late 70s and early 80s. Sometimes it worked - a lot of the time, it really didn't. Or at least, for me it doesn't - but some of it might have been the hottest ish out in 1979. I just wouldn't know, I was only one year old.

Alex Stange - The 45 Project (Instrumental EP)

My fellow crate digger, high school homie and Portland producer Alex Stange delivers some nice treats in his latest project. If you enjoyed his Dilla dedication mp3 from a few months ago, be sure to pick this up. The name comes from the fact we were supposed to drop a 45 back in 2007 or 08, but due to life, money, and me being unorganized, it never happened. But these joints needed to see the light of day, and so here we have them for free download. Enjoy!

Oddisee - Odd Summer EP

Another nice (free) release from producer / emcee Oddisee. Some tracks to just vibe out too. An ill side note, the photo was taken by Oddisee, of Omdurman (Sudan) where he spent summers growing up. I dig it when producers put together little homemade projects like this. It's that classic grassroots, organic hip-hop feel. (from http://putmeonit.blogspot.com)