DJ Joe Lewis - Midnight Dancin’
(Club Mix)
Joe Lewis formed Survival with Darryl Goodlett in 1990. This record was released that same year on Lewis' Target Records and reissued by the top Dutch choice Clone. Classic Acid House, what can I say.. I can't get enough of this one. Full power groove with the kind of chorus that resurfaces in my mind unprovoked. Me too I like to be a midnight dancer.
As Ganhadeiras De Itapuā - Mare Mansa
The internet has somewhat conflicting information on this song. One site says 26 women sing the song. Another says 19. Regardless, when I first heard this intoxicating samba-de-roda from the northern coast of Bahia I had to have it! The kind of song that can silence a room. Photos of the group show women of all ages together, grandmothers and babies, the kind of generational togetherness we should all be living.
Laraaji & Kronos Quartet -
Daddy's going to tell you no lie
I volunteer at my local university radio, CFUV, and I found this gem on the charts there. I have to play a certain percentage of the stations charts in each show. This is my biggest struggle, otherwise I would simply bring records from home. Canadian content requirements are easier to fulfill. Thankfully there is usually something golden in the charts, this being one. Laraaji must be on everyone's radar lately with all his reissues and concerts. Delightful stuff. Being a moderate Sun Ra fan I was quite surprised by this very obscure song choice. Originally released in 1960 with the Cosmic Rays, one of three releases for the Rays, it did get a few 7 inch reissues in the early 80s. Not your typical Sunny stuff. I could listen to this cover version on repeat, it has those positive energies that feed my soul. I also love the sampling done here, low key yet feeding the groove.
Ozo - Anambra
Found this one routing around the Loft classics. Apparently Mancuso would sometimes finish his sets with this gem. Something about the mix of elements in this song captivates me. The chanting "Om Mani Padme Hum", the steady, almost slow disco beat. I feel like this is the kind of song that sets a mood almost religious. I understand the chant is Buddhist, roughly translating to "Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus". How or why this British group decided upon this groove and lyric, now that would be an interesting story.
Barington Levy - The Vibes Is Right
I honestly can't remember when I first heard this song, it feels like I've always known and loved it. Does that happen with everyone? Songs that are so deeply embedded they become part of our fabric. This sometimes happens to me when I discover the sample source of a song I've been loving a long time. It is at once familiar and bizarre. Happens to me almost every time. And I love it. Like hearing the echo before the original. Which always makes me wonder about the effect the echos are having on the original source. In my mind the resonance is often the most entertaining. Anyway, maybe that's why I feel so close to this song. Maybe I heard it in another life.
Fela Kuti - Coffin for Head Of State
My friend recently introduced this song at Tuntun, a temporary listening space I'm married to. He talked about Fela's mother dying as a result of injuries incurred during a raid on his compound. Fela apparently walked his mother's coffin to the responsible general's house. Maybe paraded is a more accurate term as it seems like there was a large accompaniment with Fela and his mother's corpse. The lyrics are wonderful, denouncing leaders use of religions for their questionable behaviors. Hearing this song in a deep listening session was a delight! I'm always transported by the twisting guitar lines in Fela's music. The way they dance around each other and the monstrous groove, a wonderfully dynamic hypnotism. No wonder the powers that were were afraid of him.
