So we had the first edition of this last night:

Cool venue, nice staff, odd location. I'm not sure if I'll be in town for the next edition, but I'll let you guys know via Twitter. All 61 of you, haha. Hopefully that number will go up once I debut the LONG AWAITED podcast. I swear I was *thisclose* to recording the first episode with my grandmother's (RIP) old Memorex karaoke microphone, but the quality was too poor for even MY standards. We'll work on it. I have tons of ideas for the show and I'm pretty sure it'll be a "hit" here in Nashville and beyond.

2000's were yours, 2010's are mine.

Until next time,

Bowls

Is there something wrong with this picture?

*poof*

This case is closed, pending further investigation.

Until next time,

Bowls

Kentucky Basketball = My life for the next six months

The Greatest Show on Earth starts tonight. I know this has nothing to do with Nashville or music....but you guys need to recognize the all-consuming entity that is Kentucky basketball.

Peace to www.ukathletics.com for providing a live stream for tonight's Big Blue Madness festivities. Here's to hoping that their server doesn't crash.

I need to give these guys a shout out.....

Great staff, cool location, and a ton of records. I was just reading the Nashville Scene "Best Of..." issue and of course Grimey's was listed as the "Best Place to Buy Vinyl." This has probably been the case since they first opened, but for all you diggers who want USED wax, this is a spot I'd highly recommend. They have a pulse on what's *currently* hot as well, so you can grab the new Sa-Ra 12" before you flip through the used joints.

Now I just bought some records at Grimey's today, so don't take this as a diss, but DAMN that is not the best place to go buy vinyl if you're a hip-hop head, record collector, or beat digger. Sure, they have an outstanding selection of new vinyl, but I can't really mess with their used section.

To everyone on the East Side, support The Groove. They definitely deserve it.

Until next time,

Bowls

It's been a minute...but check this out:

AWWWWW YEAH! Bowls and Geezus combine to bring you the finest cuts of hip-hop, funk, and dance classics. The Deep Dish is a new monthly party we're starting, and it all starts in two weeks. We'll have special guest DJs each month, and we're kicking it off by keeping it in the crew with Rate. This is a free event and we're also looking at picking up a sponsorship or two. I'm hype!

DJ Evil Dee: Live in Nashville, TN (11/15/2008)

Here's the legendary DJ Evil Dee's appearance at our monthly hip-hop party, The Boom Bap. Coolout and I held the party down until Case and Rate returned with Da Beatminerz, who spent the next couple hours entertaining a packed house. I stepped off to let Evil Dee plug in his setup, and that's where this journey begins. Enjoy!










Now you guys know how we get down in Nashville. A guaranteed good time. Artists, if you're interested in coming down, hit me up and we'll see what we can work out.

Until next time,

Bowls

DJ Redeye Jedi - Stacks of Stax ReStax'd

I had the pleasure of meeting Redeye at that Blueprint show I mentioned last month. He's the DJ for the Memphis-based group The Tunnel Clones. He asked if I was a record collector right off the bat since he saw me soundchecking with 45s. We chatted for a quick second, and that's when I found out that he was the founder of the Memphix label (whose landmark release is probably the Express Rising LP), as well as a longtime collector who's been lucky enough to DJ for a ton of your favorite acts.

He also mentioned DJ'ing a set at the grand opening of the Stax Museum, which is quite impressive. After FINALLY listening to this Stax mixtape that he gave me(GOOD LOOKING OUT!), I can see how he earned that gig.

This shit is fire all the way through...totally worth the $10 or less that you'll spend on it (check the links at the bottom). But since I feel like you guys would like it so much, here's HALF of the mix in a tidy .rar file. Expect all types of funky soul, some well-placed scratching (the intro is hype), and...of course...tons of original samples for artists like Common, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Eric B & Rakim, and many more.

Enjoy, and peace to the Redeye Jedi.

DJ Redeye Jedi - Stacks of Stax ReStax'd (MCL promo)

Here's a couple links to purchase the mix as well:

Turntable Lab
Access HipHop

Until next time,

Bowls

Marcus Hill covering Bernard Wright's "Bread Sandwiches"

This is fellow Belmont alumni (and teammate on my 2007 intramural basketball team) Marcus Hill, covering one of my favorite Bernard Wright songs at his senior recital a few months ago. His brother Dwan is on the keys. I'll post up a CDQ version of the audio if I ever get my hands on it. The crowd was JAMMING to this joint!

***LATE UPDATE***

I told ya'll I'd bring the pain if I ever got my hands on it:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/680391509e13106a/

Peace to the poster on OKP who dug this so much they decided to make an MP3.

Until next time,

Bowls

Radski - "The Funked-Out Moog"

This gem right here is part of a mixtape trade that Radski and I just made. He called me up and asked if I could hit him with a classic hip-hop mix for him to bump on the plane ride to Europe (he leaves tomorrow, so let's all wish the man a safe flight). In return, he said he'd make a mix for me of ANYTHING that I wanted. I thought about it for a couple days, took the man's RIDICULOUS record collection into consideration, and told him that I wanted a "weird, funky MOOG mix."

This, of course, was no problem for Radski.

A little background information for those who don't live here in the Music City...Radski is a drummer/DJ/funk-collector of the highest order. That plane ride I mentioned is due to the fact that he's drumming for The Dynamites on their Europe tour, which runs until I believe 7/22. When we were having our monthly funk/soul throwdowns at Bound'ry and later Cabana (RIP Funky Good Time), everyone in the crew could count on Radski to play a couple joints we had NEVER heard before. I remember one time at Bound'ry he told me, "Man I'm drunk. I'm about to hit 'em off with the MOOG SET."

This mix is like his drunk moog set on steroids. Absolutely off the wall and SUPER funky. No tracklist for this one....and to all you producers who might be listening to this mix....TAKE YOUR HAND OFF THE 'RECORD' BUTTON. Go dig up these gems for yourself.

Cheers, Radski. This is fantastic.

Radski - "The Funked-Out Moog"

Now you guys ALREADY KNOW that this was made with all vinyl. That's just how we do things around here.

Until next time,

Bowls

PS: Anybody want to hear my classic hip-hop mix? Let me know.

Count to 20 - A Count Bass-D mix by Bowls

Real quick....this was recorded LIVE on June 24, 2009. This is the first in a series of five mixes, all of which will feature 20 joints that Count Bass-D either produced, rapped on, or sampled. It was hard picking songs for this first volume, as there's gonna be 80 more tracks that I'll be spinning in the future. I tossed these together and it felt right. This was made with all vinyl, no MP3's or CD's, and Part 2 will be recorded the same way. All "mistakes" have been kept intact to preserve the vibe. Enjoy, and definitely be thankful for your man Dwight Farrell and his music.

Count to 20 (Part 1)
Mixed by Bowls

OG #1
Bullets Hit Brains (inst)
Doxology
Brasilian Landing Strip
Real Music vs. Bullshit Part 2 (inst)
OG #2
Real Music vs. Bullshit Part 2
Like A Pimp
How We Met (ft. Edan)
On The Reels
Beat 4our
Drug Abusage (inst)

Drug Abusage
Potholderz (ft. MF DOOM)
Piece Of The Pie
(You Know That You Play) This
Truth To Light
OG #3
OG #4
Aural S(ect)s
Broke Thursday
OG #5
Baker's Dozen

HERE IT IS! (c) me via Chuck D

Until next time,

Bowls

I'm DJ'ing at the Blueprint show on Friday

If you come down to the Exit/In on Friday evening, you'll be able to catch me DJ'ing for my friend Oriana Lee, as well as providing the music inbetween sets. I don't know too much about the artists in the lineup, but they all sound good from what I've heard. Peace to Sean Maloney from the Nashville Scene for this write-up.

I heard that Eastside Fish is gonna be providing food for us backstage. That might be the best part of the show, considering I've never tried the crunkest fish in town. I'm counting down the days....

Until next time,

Bowls

PS: R.I.P. Funky Good Time and Boom Bap. I suppose all good things must come to an end. I'm not trying to miss a beat though, so stay tuned for what's to come in the next month.

One Night Only - A Live Jazz Mix by Bowls

Here's a little something I've been wanting to do for a while. A quick, one-take mix of some of my favorite jazz joints. Lots of funky business here, and quite a bit more melody than any other mix I've put out. Get this one while you can, because if everything goes according to plan....another version of this mix might be going up pretty soon.

All original wax pressings. No MP3s or CDs were harmed during the recording of One Night Only.

Stay tuned for a tracklisting and more info.

But for now...

Stay cool.

Yeah, that link is dead. It wasn't called "One Night Only" for nothing. So peace to the 50 of you who downloaded the mix, and to all those who slept.....the dirty version will hopefully be here soon.


Until next time,

Bowls

PS: I plan on killing it at the Blue Bar tomorrow night. BPM The Street Going-Away Party. It starts at 9:00 and ends when they turn on the lights. Peace to Case and Coolout.

The month of May.

This has always been my favorite month of the year, and although it's about to come to an end, I did manage to do a few things worth sharing.

First up: My lover and I went to Florida for a week.

We slept in everyday, drank beer on the beach, watched the NBA playoffs, ate some fantastic seafood (Old Bay Steamer STAND UP!), and generally had a great, relaxing time. Pretty much everyday around 3:00 we'd walk from our condo down to the Tom Thumb convenience store to get beer and bottled water. On our way we saw a bunch of flowers that looked VERY distinct:

Second: Boom Bap was crazy. It was rumored to be the "last one for a while," and the people definitely showed up. Pics can be found at the BPM The Street website.

Finally: Radski and I spun for damn near six hours on Memorial Day over on the east side. It was my first time in that particular area, and it had a nice little feel to it. They absolutely BUTCHERED my man's name on the flyer though...

Radksi1? Oh yeah he's dope. He pulled out a Nashville record that I had to take a picture of. This shit was real dirty and real funky too, so I'm gonna have to be on the lookout. But peep the label...

TURN IT UP!

Anyway, I've been somewhat busy trying to figure out what's next for the Nashville music scene this summer (and on). I've talked to a couple people about getting some new parties going (RIP Funky Good Time and Boom Bap), and I'm pretty positive that we're gonna be able to push forward with the support of the people. So be on the lookout for Bowls, Geezus, Rate, and Radski....with a couple NEW parties coming sooner rather than later.

Until next time,

Bowls

PS: I'm hype for this DJ Numark set tomorrow at 12th and Porter. I've been living here for almost five years and this will mark the first time I've stepped in that venue. I'm sure I'll run into a bunch of you guys there. Peace!

Further Remembrance...

In the spirit of Dilla posts (NOPE I'm not "late"...I just let you guys have February all to yourselves), check out this FANTASTIC piece written by Jay Dee's mother, Maureen Yancey:

Peace to emusic for doing this!

And, while you're reading, here's the original version of the "Ma Dukes" beat, along with a couple more Dilla treats. TURN IT UP!




"He was very unusual as a kid. The reason I say 'unusual' is because I had two boys in the house. One played with cars and trucks and Legos. And then there was Dilla, who had nothing but records and records and more records. He never asked for any toys. They didn't interest him. He would play with his brother maybe for a half-hour or so — he would give him a half-hour of his time. After that half-hour he just didn't have tolerance for the toys and the games: it would be back to the turntable.

We always let him choose his own records, even at two years old. You could go into a record shop and they would play different records in the shop, so you got to hear a lot of new stuff. (He went) shopping every Friday as a ritual, when his dad got paid. We lived downtown, and the record shop was two blocks away, so (his dad) would walk him to the record shop. If he heard something playing that caught his ear, he would ask for it. I was amazed at some of the choices he made. I know he couldn't have known all the artists. Maybe he was looking at the labels?"

==

Now that's dope.

Until next time,

Bowls

Bowls & Coolout - J Dilla Tribute live at the Krispy Kreme (2006)

This, my friends, is one of the greatest gigs I've ever been a part of. It was a fairly mild night on December 16, 2006, and if you were a hip-hop head here in Nashville, you probably knew that Coolout and I were over at the Krispy Kreme on Thompson Lane, playing Dilla beats from 8:00 til midnight. If you weren't a hip-hop head, and you were just in the mood for some doughnuts, well...I guess you can consider the music as an added bonus.

I usually like to give a full chronological breakdown for stuff like this, but today I'll just hit you with whatever my memory can round up.

• Stones Throw sponsored the event and we also got Critics' Pick in the Nashville Scene. I've still got a few copies of that issue tucked away somewhere.


• Everyone who came to the shop for Dilla donated to the Lupus Research Institute. A lot of people who were just standing in line donated as well.


• Coolout was rocking off the CDJs and I brought a crate full of Dilla productions and original samples. Between us we had beats for days.


• This is the only time I ever drank and smoked in a Krispy Kreme parking lot. I think everybody else that night can say the same thing.


• The looks on the peoples' faces in line were pure comedy. I'd be shocked too if I walked in on turntables, loud speakers, and bobbing heads in a doughnut shop.


• I had just burned a copy of that Jay Love Japan advance that leaked, but I accidentally left it at home.


• A couple b-boys got down to some of the more uptempo joints. I have a picture somewhere of this dude doing a headspin on the concrete-tiled floor.


• My man Ted was in town that night, and he joined Coolout, Case, and I at Lay'la for the post-party. I definitely remember us skipping past a long line at the entrance. I know that it was only because Coolout knew the guys at the door, but it's more fun to think that we were getting the VIP treatment for rocking a Dilla tribute at a Krispy Kreme. You know, popping bottles and whatnot.

Big shout out to Mike for the video footage. I found this file buried in my music folder, and now it's up on YouTube over two years later. I know that Dilla tributes got kind of played and predictable over the course of the last three years, but I can honestly say that this ranks as one of the original and MOST original tributes to the man who left us with Donuts.

R.I.P. James Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J Dilla

Until next time,

Bowls

PS: FUNKY GOOD TIME TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY! It's Thursday night at Cabana. We're doing a James Brown tribute. Geezus might have a panic attack trying to pick just a few joints from his JB collection. See you there.

If Heaven was a bathroom in St. Louis...

So I spent last Monday digging for records in the fine city of St. Louis. Growing up, my family made trips to STL often, usually making the 2:45 drive for a Cardinals baseball game. Around 99/2000 I started getting deeper into buying records, so we searched and found gold in the form of Vintage Vinyl on Delmar.

On my numerous adventures in Vintage Vinyl over the last 9 years, I've come up on countless records (not to mention almost losing a full shopping bag of wax when I left it at a streetside table outside a restaurant), met a handful of interesting people, and been led to a few more record shops in the process.

Nowadays, I'm guaranteed to leave STL with at least a couple records that I've really been hunting for, and they're ALWAYS in great condition. The quality and selection of black music in STL eclipses that of Nashville, which is obviously expected when you consider their respective music histories. But, if I was forced to use the record grading scale, nothing gets put in the bins in STL that isn't VG+ or better. Tons of unplayed promo copies turn up as well. I can't really say the same for Nashville, plus, something tells me that some guy named Egon and his friends ran through a ton of the city's wax YEARS ago.

To wrap it up, I love living and digging in the Music City, but there's nothing like seeing the view of the arch and smelling the wax in the air. So last Monday, when I decided to relieve myself at the last record shop before hitting the road, I was hit with this:

Until next time,

Bowls

PS: BOOM BAP this weekend, back at the Blue Bar. I bought a few joints that I'll definitely be playing on Saturday night (4/18). The party kicks off at 9:00. Give me a shout if you're in the building.

Second Serve - Boogie/Disco/Funk mixed by Bowls

“Second Serve” is the sequel to “Soft Serve,” a mix I recorded back in 2006. The premise was (and still is) pretty simple: make a mix of songs that represent the feeling you get when the weather is nice. In 2006, all it took was an afternoon in Centennial Park when the temperature had first hit the 70 degree range. That prompted me to head back to my on-campus apartment (HILLSIDE GET LIVE!) and record “Soft Serve.”

Now, three years later, the warm weather returned a bit earlier than expected. It’s been forever since I dropped a mix anyway, so the timing couldn’t be better. This one was recorded on a Friday afternoon. 71 degrees and sunny. What does that mean for whoever decides to listen to this mix?

80’s grooves. Huge keyboard bass. Snares with (almost) too much reverb. Disco. Synthesizers. Female vocals. Songs about getting “up” and/or “down.” Songs that make you want to party on a spaceship.

Here it is. Recorded live with all vinyl…no CDs or MP3s. And you know I kept the slightly sloppy parts because I like that “REAL LIVE SHIT!” – Jay Dee. Enjoy, and all feedback is welcome. Oh and if you have a blog that I might be interested in, go ahead and hit me with a link.

(Artists featured on this mix include Rene & Angela, Fatback, Roy Ayers, Kraftwerk, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Surface, One Way, N*E*R*D*, Zapp, and many, many more.)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/56735665d86d86d4/

Until next time,

Bowls