Paris DJs Soundsystem presents Friends & Family Vol.1
For quite some time we wanted to cook a new "extravaganza" mix digging into the vast selection of current artists, bands and producers from the unique "Paris DJs universe". We started gathering recent and upcoming releases from friends, from people we’ve worked with in the past, from many of those musicians who just kill it out there, while being unheard on the radio. It would be impossible to feature them all in one mix, so we stopped at 50 tunes, from 50 different artists and 50 different records. Then we sorted them out by country of origin and found out half were coming from the USA! Maybe you haven’t heard of all those bands yet. How come? It really is a mystery. Anyway we cut the selection in two halves of 25 track each, and here’s a two-hours long selection of Paris DJs’ American friends & family for you to enjoy. And of course we’ll be back soon with another two-hours platter, of many more friends from all over the rest of the world!
Paris DJs Soundsystem presents Friends & Family Vol.1
(MP3 Podcast on www.ParisDJs.com) 2017-02-15
[comment faire?/how to?]
Tracklisting :
01. RSI-MSK - Rubicon
(from '001' 10 inch, 2016 / Drumetrics)
02. Mykal Rose - You Never Know (Moog Version)
(from 'Sidewalk Steppa' album, 2016 / Foreign Key)
03. The Echocentrics - Echo Hotel
(from 'Echo Hotel' album, 2016 / Nacional)
04. Club d'Elf - Hegaz
(from 'Live At Club Helsinki' album, 2016 / Face Pelt)
05. The Azmaris - Yekatit (Mulatu Astake cover)
(from 'Yekati' free download, 2016 / Level One Studios)
06. Dexter Story - Lalibela (Jeremy Sole Remix)
(from 'Wondem (Remixed)' album, 2016 / Soundway)
07. Los Terrificos - Viva La Robolucion
(from 'Go South / Vaya Pa'l Sur' album, 2016 / Peace & Rhythm)
08. Amendola vs Blades - 32nd Street
(from 'Greatest Hits' album, 2016 / SAZi)
09. The Olympians - Sirens of Jupiter
(from 'The Olympians' album, 2016 / Daptone)
10. Lettuce - 116th St.
(from 'Mt. Crushmore' 12 inch, 2016 / Lettuce)
11. Third Root - The Revolution Won't Go Viral feat. Bavu Blakes
(from 'LIBERTAD' album, 2016 / Third Root)
12. Money Chicha - Lamento en la Selva
(from 'Echo En Mexico' album, 2016 / Vampisoul)
13. Orgone - Meat Machin
(from 'Beyond The Sun' album, 2016 / Colemine)
14. Brownout - Iron Leg (Mickey & The Soul Generation cover)
(from 'Iron Leg' free download, 2016 / Level One Studios)
15. Ocote Sol Sounds - A Pesar La Vida feat. Chico Mann & Quantic
(from 'A Pesar La Vida' 7 inch, 2016 / Wonderwheel)
16. Soul Scratch - Fireside Lounge
(from 'Pushing Fire' album, 2017 / Colemine)
17. Magic in Threes - For The Champ
(from 'IV' album, 2016 / G.E.D. Soul)
18. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - Face
(from 'Out On The Coast' album, 2016 / Colemine)
19. Bosq Y La Candela All-Stars - San José 51 feat. Tempo Alomar
(from 'San José 51' album, 2016 / Candela)
20. Jungle Fire - Jambu
(from 'Jambu' album, 2017 / Nacional)
21. Hard Proof - Men of Trouble
(from 'Stinger' album, 2017 / Modern Outsider)
22. Black Market Brass - Half a Cig
(from 'Cheat and Start a Fight' album, 2016 / Secret Stash)
23. Substantial - Tony Stanza feat. Tonedeff and Marcus D
(from 'The Past Is Always Present in the Future' album, 2017 / Hipnott)
24. Orkesta Mendoza - Redoble
(from '¡Vamos A Guarachar!' album, 2016 / Glitterbeat)
25. Super Hi-Fi - Verse Chorus Verse (Doctor Sub Rmx)
(from 'Super Hi-Fi Plays Nirvana' album, 2016 / Very Special)
Total time : 102mn 42s
Original cover artworks :
Credits :
Selected by Djouls (parisdjs.com)
Mixed & Mastered by Grant Phabao (grantphabao.com)
Artwork by Ben Hito (facebook.com/benhito)
Links :
Paris DJs : parisdjs.com | bandcamp | facebook | pinterest | soundcloud | twitter | youtube
Ben Hito : official | discogs | facebook
TRACK-BY-TRACK INFO :
01. RSI-MSK - Rubicon
(from '001' 10 inch, 2016 / Drumetrics)
The Drumetrics collective originally started in 1999 by MRR (Michael Raymond Russell) and GLK (The Gaslamp Killer) as MHE or Machines Have Emotions. It evolved into Dirty Drums, which sampled drum breaks off of vinyl from the 60s and 70s. We published a special mix about them in 2004, read it and download the mix here. They’ve just put out a Library-inspired 10 inch by multi-instrumentalist Marcus Seiji Knaus and producer/engineer Richard Santino Isabell, with killer psychedelic, breaks-heavy moody funk on both sides. A perfect introduction to this mix.
02. Mykal Rose - You Never Know (Moog Version)
(from 'Sidewalk Steppa' album, 2016 / Foreign Key)
Featured on the Paris DJS Soundsystem “Rise Of The Troubadour Warriors" compilation from 2013, the Foreign Key production unit is led by guitarist/producer Siahvash Dowlatshahi with some of the Bay Area’s funkiest horn players. They’ve put out last june a very cool roots reggae album from Mykal Rose, "Sidewalk Steppa". Great vibes all along from which the "You Never Know" tune stands out as a great singalong.
03. The Echocentrics - Echo Hotel
(from 'Echo Hotel' album, 2016 / Nacional)
The Echocentrics is another one of those projects from Adrian Quesada in Austin, Texas, who somehow manages to get better every year. His "Echo Hotel" album from 2016 is as essential as it is unclassifiable. We had picked the romantic soul of "Has Regresado Viejo feat. Natalia Clavier" for the Paris DJs "Heavyweight Gambit" compilation released in october 2015, but many other songs could have made the list, such as this soulful cinematico-psychedelico "Echo Hotel" masterpiece.
04. Club d'Elf - Hegaz
(from 'Live At Club Helsinki' album, 2016 / Face Pelt)
The last time we introduced our readers & listeners to the sound of Boston-based, Moroccan-dosed dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf, thanks to our collegue Nicolas Ragonneau, was the summer of 2011, with a French/English interview and an exclusive mix (check them here). Their late 2016 album, "Live At Club Helsinki", recorded at the Hudson, New York club, is a gem of improv dubby jazz, from which we extracted "Hegaz" featuring the illustrious John Medeski on Hammond B3 organ, and based on a traditional Arabic scale. Extremely loveable mind-blowing stuff.
05. The Azmaris - Yekatit (Mulatu Astake cover)
(from 'Yekati' free download, 2016 / Level One Studios)
Austin, Texas based The Azmaris includes members of Hard Proof (trumpet player Derek Phelps, tenor saxophonist Jason Frey, and drummer Stephen Bidwell), along with a vibraphonist (John Best) and an upright bass player (Janie Cowan). They’ve been preparing their first album with Adrian Quesada at his Level One Sound studio, and took a bit of time from those sessions to record a killer take on Mulatu Astatke’s classic "Yekatit", offered as a free download on Soundcloud for the "Live at Level One Sound" cover series.
06. Dexter Story - Lalibela (Jeremy Sole Remix)
(from 'Wondem (Remixed)' album, 2016 / Soundway)
Dexter Story is a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist and producer, who joined the Paris DJs musical universe through Todd Simon's Ethio-Cali Ensemble (on the "Rise of the Troubadour Warriors" compilation), and offered an exclusive tune from his new project Wondem, for our 5th Afro/tropical compilation "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand". He released in october 2015 an album on Soundway Records, presented as "an East African-influenced mix of Ethio-Pop, Sudanese Soul & Californian Jazz". The vinyl was one of the great records of 2015, it got the remix treatment last year with a complete album of remixes, from which we picked the Jeremy Sole one, as great as ever with Mr J.
07. Los Terrificos - Viva La Robolucion
(from 'Go South / Vaya Pa'l Sur' album, 2016 / Peace & Rhythm)
Los Terrificos is soundtrack composer Jake Fader with Ray Lugo (Kokolo, Boogaloo Destroyers). They’ve put out on Peace & Rhythm Records last year a double LP blending north Mexican folk, afrobeat, western movie soundtracks, surf, psychedelic cumbia, dub, electronica, funk, Andean folk and even disco - including at least four mad dancefloor tunes. Tip!
08. Amendola vs Blades - 32nd Street
(from 'Greatest Hits' album, 2016 / SAZi)
Drummer Scott Amendola & Hammond B3 organist Wil Blades are a groovy duo whose incendiary jam-funk has been gracing the San Francisco bay area for years. "Greatest Hits" is their first album, actuallly a selection from a two-nights live recording. A massively funky jazz duo we’d love to see over here in Paris.
09. The Olympians - Sirens of Jupiter
(from 'The Olympians' album, 2016 / Daptone)
The Daptone Records label doesn’t need any introduction anymore. Their latest project is The Olympians with a self-titled debut album, featuring members of The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & the Expressions and Menahan Street Band, as commissioned by pianist and vibraphonist Toby Pazner. Do you really need another Daptone instrumental funk album? If it’s sounding as good as this one, yes you do.
10. Lettuce - 116th St.
(from 'Mt. Crushmore' 12 inch, 2016 / Lettuce)
If you just think abpout the fact that the "Mt. Crushmore" EP is basically the leftovers from the previous album "Crush" released a year before, you can’t even begin to imagine how much you need more Lettuce in your life. This Boston funk band has been active since the early 90s, and they’ve now reached a high level of mastery of the groove. It really is hard to find a funk band tighter than this one nowdays.
11. Third Root - The Revolution Won't Go Viral feat. Bavu Blakes
(from 'LIBERTAD' album, 2016 / Third Root)
Hip Hop project Third Root is poet/author/MC Charles Peters (Easy Lee of MoJoe), producer/MC Marco Cervantes (Mexican StepGrandfather) and the legendary DJ, musicologist, designer & Jazztronica Peddler Chicken George (invited 3 times on our podcast), produced and mixed by our favorite afro-latin-psychedelic-funk master Adrian Quesada. There’s even Shawn Lee on drums on one track. Friends & family indeed!
12. Money Chicha - Lamento en la Selva
(from 'Money Chicha' album, 2016 / Vampisoul)
Definitively one of the best albums of last year, the first, self-titled Money Chicha LP is a must-have. Joyful, psychedelic, groovy, fun, this is just addictive party music at its best. And Austin, Texas is once again the place to be.
13. Orgone - Meat Machin
(from 'Beyond The Sun' album, 2016 / Colemine)
The afro-funk-latin-disco band from L.A. Orgone is on fire these days. Between mini albums ("New You" vol.1 & 2), fantastic 45s on Colemine Records and this marvelous double LP "Beyond The Sun", it’s hard to miss them.
14. Brownout - Iron Leg (Mickey & The Soul Generation cover)
(from 'Iron Leg' free download, 2016 / Level One Studios)
While the Austin latin-funk powerhouse Brownout is releasing the second volume of their Black Sabbath cover project Brown Sabbath, they still found time to record this interpretation of an obscure Texas Funk gem. Pure class, as always.
15. Ocote Sol Sounds - A Pesar La Vida feat. Chico Mann & Quantic
(from 'A Pesar La Vida' 7 inch, 2016 / Wonderwheel)
Martin Perna with Chico Mann (both from Antibalas) & Will Holland (aka Quantic). what else ? Can’t wait for a new album to be released…
16. Soul Scratch - Fireside Lounge
(from 'Pushing Fire' album, 2017 / Colemine)
First discovered on our "Heavyweight Gambit" funk/soul compilation from autumn 2005, Californian funk unit Soul Scratch has delivered a classic first album, in the vein of Monophonics and Dap-Kings stuff, no less.
17. Magic in Threes - For The Champ
(from 'IV' album, 2016 / G.E.D. Soul)
This instrumental combo specializing in psychedelic cinematic-soul found its niche. Not far from library funk music, the Magic In Threes are the masters of sunday morning moods.
18. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - Face
(from 'Out On The Coast' album, 2016 / Colemine)
Featured twice in Paris DJs funk/soul compilations, The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble is a heavy, original, instrumental soul band based in San Diego. In 2015 they released their debut self-titled album on Colemine Records, followed recently by a fantastic second album, "Out On The Coast" on which they reach new heights.
19. Bosq Y La Candela All-Stars - San José 51 feat. Tempo Alomar
(from 'San José 51' album, 2016 / Candela)
After a series of releases on Ubiquity Records, Whiskey Baron's Bosq prepared the basics of a new album, and flew to Puerto Rico to work with local musicians and explore the island's sonic cauldron where calypso, Afrobeat, reggae and Latin all meet. Dancefloor-oriented as always with Bosq, this vinyl-only release is a very hot platter !
20. Jungle Fire - Jambu
(from 'Jambu' album, 2017 / Nacional)
The second album from L.A. afro-latin funksters Jungle Fire is the bomb. Their groovy formula seemed already perfect on the first album "Tropicoso" but the band has managed to surpass that with their sophomore effort. "L.A. Kossa", "Jambu", "N.U.S.A.U." or the closing track "Mofongo" should bring some warm fire to the global dancefloors. Get in touch with us (we’re building a private Paris DJs record store!) to grab the group’s 45s or LPs
21. Hard Proof - Men of Trouble
(from 'Stinger' album, 2017 / Modern Outsider)
This is another LP we massively recommend. Hard Proof’s first album was produced by the mighty Adrian Quesada. The band then put out a 45 on Canadian label Kept Records, followed by two unreleased tunes on Paris DJs’ afro/tropical compilations (Vol.3 and Vol.4) — which you finally find in this new album, and a storming afrobeat/funk EP, "Public Hi-Fi Sessions 03". They’ve now joined the Modern Outsider label & management team in Austin, Texas, to put out their new marvel, "Stinger". We should get copies for sale at the private Paris DJs record store soon, keep connected!
22. Black Market Brass - Half a Cig
(from 'Cheat and Start a Fight' album, 2016 / Secret Stash)
Founded in Minneapolis during the spring of 2012, Black Market Brass released their first 45 way back in 2013, and took some time to record their first album, finally released at the end of last year on the Secret Stash label. It’s a spectacular, heavy blend of afrobeat and psychedelic funk, alas hard to find in French record stores. We’ll try to get a few copies for the Paris DJs private record store.
23. Substantial - Tony Stanza feat. Tonedeff and Marcus D
(from 'The Past Is Always Present in the Future' album, 2017 / Hipnott)
Featured on Paris DJs’ second hip hop compilation Spirituality & the Supernatural", it’s been nearly three years since Maryland native (now Virginia-based) rapper Substantial released his last album "Art Is Where The Home Is", thankfully he's now back with "The Past Is Always Present in the Future", a new full-length released on indie label HiPNOTT Records. "Tony Stanza" featuring fast rapper Tonedeff from the QN5 collective/label is a standout from a solid hip hop effort.
24. Orkesta Mendoza - Redoble
(from '¡Vamos A Guarachar!' album, 2016 / Glitterbeat)
Under one of the most beautiful cover artworks of 2016 lies the hard to pigeonhole cumbia/chicha/mambo side-project from Sergio Mendoza (Calexico). After the XIXA record released last spring, the Orkesta Mendoza puts Tucson, Arizon on the map of latin psychedelic music once again. A party album, "¡Vamos a guarachar!" has a nice rock energy, and isn’t that far sometimes from the Balkanese brass bands’ melodies. The LP owes a lot to Chicha Libre, a band which didn’t last long enough, but paved the way to many psychedelic projects gathering the best of the Americas.
25. Super Hi-Fi - Verse Chorus Verse (Doctor Sub Rmx)
(from 'Super Hi-Fi Plays Nirvana' album, 2016 / Very Special)
This two-trombones dub project, featured on Paris DJs’ first afro/tropical compilation way back in 2012 (listen here) is always on point. Even when they publish Christmas albums, or, even cornier on paper, a Nirvana tribute. You’d be wrong to pass on this one, for sure the most surprising cover album of 2016!
Original post on Paris DJs