Thursday, June 3, 2010

Daniel Johnston Must Be Destroyed!!!

I very distinctly remember the first time I heard Daniel Johnston. It was February of 2005 and I was visiting some friends in Dallas, TX.
Now, I've never had a hard time listening to rough recordings, in fact, I tend to connect with them a lot faster than if I were listening to something well produced. I think it comes from the singer/songwriter in me, having many homemade cassette recordings of my own.
Anyways, my friend put Daniel on and from that point of introduction on, I tried to get as much of his music as I could.

One year passed and the documentary, "The Devil And Daniel Johnston" was released, and I became even more of a fan, along with pretty much everyone else that saw that film. At this point, I had collected around 25 to 30 of Daniel's albums and as friends of mine were now being introduced to him, I was being sought out to fulfill their musical needs.

Getting 30 albums at once can be quite overwhelming, so I put this mix together as somewhat of a "Daniel Johnston Starter Kit."
So, whether you're already a fan or not, check it out. 3 years after making it, I still love every track on it. There'd be some that I'd like to add to it, but the line has to be drawn somewhere, i guess.

The artwork I used on the album cover is by Kasper Eistrup of the amazing Danish band, Kashmir.
Check them out as well.




01. Daniel Johnston Must Be Destroyed!!!
02. Love Wheel
03. A Little Story
04. True Love Will Find You In The End
05. Evening Stars
06. Casper, The Friendly Ghost
07. Dream Scream
08. Marching Guitars
09. Silly Love
10. Pot Head
11. Some Things Last A Long Time
12. Love Defined
13. Laurie
14. Etiquette
15. W..w..F..f..M..m..U..u..
16. Crazy Love
17. An Idiot's End
18. Walking The Cow
19. Nothing Left
20. Love Will See You Through
21. Phantom Of My Own Opera
22. Dream
23. The Story Of An Artist
24. Urge
25. Is Life Still Live Again
26. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Grievances
27. Funeral Home
28. I Saw Her Standing There

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Headset Jazz: A Lalo Schifrin Collection

It's taken me quite a long time to put this mix together. Originally, it was 3.5 hours long, so condensing it down to 1.2 was quite a challenge.

I was introduced to Schifrin as a pretty young child. My dad was a huge fan, but even with that influence, I myself, didn't become a Lalofanatic until only a few years ago. My obsession with his work has almost become a bit of a joke between me, my wife, and our friends. There's only been 1 vinyl of his that I've ever passed up purchasing and I still regret it.

Lalo Schifrin began composing songs for Dizzy Gillespie at age 24, and joined his quintet at age 28. Gillespie was with MGM at the time and they began offering Schifrin his first films. From the beginning, he's always had a very unique sound to his compositions, blending jazz, blues, unconventional time signatures and instrument combinations. Yet, all the while, remaining both the underscore in films and simultaneously strong enough to stand alone outside of them. He's won 4 Grammy's and has been nominated for a total of 21. He also had a young John(ny) Williams as pianist during many of his recordings during the early to mid 60's. Listen to Williams' earliest scores and you'll hear quite a bit of Schifrin influence.

The name Headset Jazz came from a song title from Schifrin's score for Enter The Dragon. It seemed a very fitting name for a Schifrin album. Yes, you can play it in the background, but there's so much depth to this music, headphones would be a good choice.




01. The Wave
02. On The Way To San Mateo
03. Old Laces
04. Laniakea Waltz
05. The Trick
06. Solaris
07. Into The Night
08. Secret Code
09. Prelude #2
10. Mannix (Long Version)
11. Halieva Blues
12. Danube Incident
13. Hotel Daniels
14. Burning Bridges (Album Version)
15. Vaccinated Mushrooms
16. Lap Dance Club
17. Double Feature
18. Macumba
19. Headset Jazz
20. The Killer
21. Murmúrio
22. Machinations
23. Gone With The Wave
24. Bachianas Brasileiras #5
25. But Not For Me
26. The Shadow
27. Clairmont Waltz
28. Bullitt (End Title)


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Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Only Game The Man Left


Like I've said before, I love finding new music. And, the only thing that comes close to finding it, is sharing it with friends that appreciate it.
This is a compilation I put together for a few of my "soul hungry" friends.
Lots of good stuff here, some classics and some rarities.

The title of this record is a stolen quote from the 1972 film, "Superfly."
Seeing as how Curtis Mayfield did that soundtrack and is by far one of my favorite soul singers/songwriters/producers/man of many many talents... well... it only seemed fitting.

If you are a lover of soul music or not, I guarantee you'll find something to love here.


01. "Fist Of Fear, Touch Of Death" (Intro)
02. Al Green: Have You Been Making Out OK
03. The Staple Singers: Respect Yourself
04. Sweet Salvation: Do A Number
05. High Voltage: Love Hate
06. Tower Of Power: What Is Hip
07. Floyd Newman: Frog Stomp
08. Otis Redding: That's How Strong My Love Is
09. Sam Cooke: Smoke Rings
10. Candi Staton: I'm Just A Prisoner (Of Your Good Lovin')
11. Freddie North: Cuss The Wind
12. Aretha Franklin: People Get Ready
13. James Brown: Blues And Pants
14. Terry Huff: The Lonely One
15. Curtis Mayfield: Miss Black America
16. Gladys Knight & The Pips: If I Were Your Woman
17. The Dynamics: Woe Is Me
18. Bettye Swann: Chained & Bound
19. Eddie Floyd: I'm Just The Kind Of Fool
20. Johnny Nash: Take Me Back
21. Lou Johnson: Nearer
22. William Bell: Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday


Major thanks goes to one of my favorite blogs, Funk My Soul. Without them, an entire 3rd of this album would still be left undiscovered. Seriously.
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A Source Of Joy & Inspiration To All The World



Not a whole lot of recent discoveries on this one. But, it's a great mix, nonetheless.

The Dynamics and Candi Staton are probably the newest to me and they have real standout tracks on here.

The Charles Spearin track should put a smile on your face. I had the privilege of seeing him perform this track live at an encore of a BSS show a year or two ago. Not only did I think it was a clever concept, but I was very impressed by his ability to pull it off live.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with Kashmir on a short film that documented their first U.S. tour. The video is still being worked on, and I will post it as soon as possible.
Anyways, my friend Craig and I were scouting the venue Kashmir would be playing. We went on the cheapest night possible and the band playing just so happened to be Choir Of Young Believers. Neither of us had any intention to stay for a full show. Our only real intent was to figure out where we were going to place cameras. Choir started their set and we were both immediately sold. A very good band both live and on their debut full length record, This Is For The White In Your Eyes.

So, without further ado, here you go.


01. Disney: Walt Disney's Dedication
02. The Dynamics: She's For Real (Bless You)
03. Lalo Schifrin: The Shadow
04. Candi Staton: Evidence
05. Charles Spearin: Mrs. Morris
06. Tom Waits: All The World Is Green
07. Paul McCartney: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
08. Herbie Mann: New Orleans
09. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis: Mean Son Of A Gun
10. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings: Cut That Line
11. First Floor Power: God Damn Your Fingers
12. Sparklehorse: Jaykub (Feat. Jason Lytle)
13. Broken Social Scene: Sweetest Kill
14. Choir Of Young Believers: These Rituals Of Mine
15. The Flaming Lips: The Ego's Last Stand
16. White Denim: Mirrored And Reverse
17. Midlake: Children Of The Grounds
18. Vic Chesnutt: When The Bottom Fell Out
19. Peter Gabriel: Heroes
20. Sarah Jaffe: Luv

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