11 Nashville Finds from 2011

Yes, I know....it's been a minute. For those who I don't know personally, I got a job as an 8th grade math teacher over the summer and I've honestly been too busy to keep up with the blog. I'm now on winter break, however, so once again it's on. Here's some of my favorite finds from 2011, all from record stores here in Nashville. Some are obscure, most are classics, and yes, all of these pictures were taken from my phone. 11 from 2011.



Don Blackman - S/T (GRP)

This is, without a doubt, my #1 find from the countless hours I've spent digging in 2011. True story - my girlfriend and I were driving back from a birthday party in her hometown of Fairview, and I thought to myself, "The Don Blackman record is in this city right now. I'm gonna go find it." (This isn't the first time I've had this feeling...on my first ever trip to The Great Escape in Madison, I wondered if I'd find something cool, like a 12" pressing of Big Daddy Kane's "Raw." Sure enough, I found a damn bootleg 12" of "Raw," with the Kool G Rap verse at the end! Real diggers know about the spidey sense, and it's a beautiful thing.)

Well I went to The Great Escape on Charlotte when I got back to my car, and I did my usual rounds (new arrivals, jazz section, dollar bin), spending close to an hour and a half just playing stuff I've never seen/heard. None of it hit me, even for sampling purposes, so I was headed towards the exit before I saw a crate of freshly-priced LPs sitting on the counter ready to go out. So I'm flipping through the selection - a nice copy of the Breakwater record for $6.99....eh, I already have a copy so I'll let it find another home. The self-titled Edwin Birdsong on Philly International...cool, I have a white label copy but I'll grab this one for $2.99. The....the....*looks around like I just found a $100 bill on the ground*.....I TOLD YOU THIS RECORD WAS IN TOWN!

I paid my $7.64 for those two albums and let out a "WOOOOOOOOO!" as soon as I got in my car. Yes, I've been looking for that album in the field for ten straight years. I still have the $3.99 price tag.





Kool & The Gang - Live at PJ's (De-Lite)

This is another record that's eluded me over the years. Kool & The Gang is my favorite band of all time, but their first four records have been notoriously hard to find in good condition. This one was well worth the $6 price tag at Phonoluxe. Not the cleanest copy, but every song is definitely playable, especially the MONSTER, ALL-TIME CLASSIC, SAMPLED-TO-DEATH banger - "N.T."





Little Beaver - Black Rhapsody (Cat)

Mark down another one for "Artists Whose Early Records Are Hard To Find." Actually, I literally never see Little Beaver records in Nashville (just a couple 45s here and there, usually "Party Down"). I first got wind of this LP (and what was on it) about two years ago, and I got hype when I saw a copy in St. Louis...only to find out that it was a repress. This one was $17.99 at The Great Escape on Charlotte, super-clean and worth every penny. Now watch me find another copy for $4.99 within the next couple months, because that's how it ALWAYS seems to work out.





The Loading Zone - S/T (RCA Victor)

I felt a certain sense of vindication when I found this record in Nashville. Last year, I spent a week at my parents' house in my hometown of Paducah, KY, taking care of our three massive dogs and generally counting down the minutes until I could go back to Nashville. Boredom levels reached critical mass, so one day I attempted to scour every antique store in town in hopes of finding something, ANYTHING that would reverse my apparent hometown curse (for years and years, I never found anything worth mentioning in Paducah. The best records I got growing up in that town were from a water-damaged closet in Joe Casey's Anderson Court apartment. No sleeves for any of them and crud all over the damn place, but it was cool to get my first taste of Donald Byrd's Places and Spaces, attempt to wade through the scratches to hear MJQ's Spaces, and stumble upon some Quasimoto-sampled vocals on an album by The Last Poets).

I knew of one place that had recently opened downtown, and they had an interesting (albeit steeply-priced) selection of 45s. (Ask me about how I got my copy of "Funky Drummer" next time you see me.) Anyway, all these records belonged to the owner, and his wife was the one who usually worked at the shop. My God, she was annoying as hell. Every five minutes she'd come interrupt my session with the question "You find anything you can't live without??" Maybe, lady, but step the hell off and let me dig. I was nice to her though (of course), and this granted me access to the upstairs attic, which was just FILLED with unpriced LPs. I'm talking barely-reachable stacks that required gymnastics-level flexibilty and balance. With that said, the one thing that always pissed me off about this place was the fact that this guy's wife REFUSED to price records. She'd always tell me that her husband had to come in and look at them first, which usually meant that I'd have to wait eight hours/silently disagree with his statements about James Brown (this guy didn't listen to any JB past 1966)/bite my nails in anticipation of the inevitable high prices. I was getting bored with the selection (and acrobatics) in the attic when I decided to hit one last stack - the one that was hardest to get to (being lazy never gets a cratedigger anywhere, right?). I reached straight for the middle, and the first four records I saw were the 50 Foot Hose album, Pookah - S/T (hell yeah!), a King Sun album from 1990, and...yes...The Loading Zone. This is another one I've had on my list forever, but never found in the field. I took all four LPs downstairs and agreed to meet up with her husband later on that night.

To make this ridiculously long story short, he priced the King Sun at $5 (rap holds no weight with this guy, thankfully), settled on $10 for the Pookah (VERY pleased with that one), said something about the 50 Foot Hose being a $250 album (riiiiiiiight), and then looked curiously at The Loading Zone. "Hmmm....I don't believe I remember this one. Looks pretty interesting." "Yeah it's just a jazz album (don't say jazz-rock, don't say jazz-rock) from 68....you know, just standard stuff (PLEASE GOD, LET THIS MAN HATE JAZZ MUSIC)." "Weelllll, I don't know....I think I need to give this one a listen at home first....." "Look, I'm leaving town tomorrow to head back to Nashville. I'll give you $25 for it." "But....I haven't heard it yet." "I'll give you 35 BUCKS for this thing (at this point I'm just trying to win the battle and reverse the hometown curse...I could easily get one cheaper than that off eBay)."

"Sorry, I'm gonna take this one home."

Bastard.

Their store closed down earlier this year, probably on the same day I found a clean copy of The Loading Zone for $9.99 at Grimey's. I think of that encounter in Paducah every time I play this song:





Annette Peacock - The Perfect Release (Aura)

Much to my delight, I finally found a copy of this at The Great Escape on Charlote for $6.99. It looked absolutely unplayed, and they also had another Annette Peacock album sitting behind it in the same condition (no, fellow collectors, not THAT Annette Peacock album). This record is home to the massive drum break used in J-Live's SUPER CLASSIC "Braggin' Writes," produced by my man Georges Sulmers - and by produced I mean that he found this break and handed two copies to J for him to destroy (J-Live - "Braggin' Writes"). (True story - I've held the aforementioned doubles of this album that J-Live cut up. I had a picture on my old phone but lost it along the way. Just one of the cool pieces of indie-rap history you can find in Georges' formidable record room.)





Loose Ends - "Stay a Little While, Child" / "Gonna Make You Mine" (Virgin/MCA)

Not much to say about this one except it's a stone-cold classic. I first heard this tracj on the Bugz in the Attic Life: Styles compilation back in 2005 and I just loved the vibe. Laid back, funky, sexy...all in that patented almost-too-damn-cheesy style that pervaded the best songs of the mid-80s. This 12" single is notable because it's the only place you can find "Gonna Make You Mine" - a dancefloor classics that was originally released as a b-side.





Kool & The Gang - Music Is The Message (De-Lite)

Again, it's really hard to find early Kool & The Gang in good condition. I paid $20 for this copy at Phonoluxe and the wax is absolutely pristine. This album grooves from beginning to end, and it's home to my favorite K&TG track of all-time. Check that - one of my favorite songs PERIOD. One of the most joyful, uplifting, beautiful, inspiring tracks to ever emerge out of the funk genre, and I absolutely LIVE (not love, LIVE) to put people on to this song. So for anybody out there who has never experienced the power of the title track from Music Is The Message - ENJOY (and I honestly wish I could be you so I could hear that horn breakdown for the first time again)





Rudy Love & The Love Family - S/T (Calla)

I got my first copy of this album earlier this year in Chattanooga. It was a promo, super-clean wax, but when I got back home I found that there was a tiny hiccup in the bridge. Still listenable, of course, but when you play it out you're just asking for the dancefloor to lose it's groove for a split-second (that's when you look curiously at your turntable and make sure that everyone knows it's not your fault, right DJs?). I found another copy a few months later for $9.99 at The Great Escape in Madison, and this one, while not a promo, was just as clean....and didn't have the skip. I love this song, by the way. Great lyrics and a bonafied funk-face groove ("SWEET!").





Kay Dennis - S/T (Pearce)

Found this in the dollar bin at Grimey's. The cover was so shiny and crisp that I thought it was a new record - something "groovy" that warranted a "groovy 60's cover" or whatever. Without looking at who the artist was, I flipped it over to see a picture of Ms. Kay Dennis and her band onstage, accompanied by a tracklist featuring a lot of standards....including a NICE cover of "Light My Fire." Best dollar bin find of the year, without a doubt. Apparently this record is fairly scarce, but can still be purchased at a decent price (Popsike listings).

This song pretty much sums up the sound of the album - lounge vocals over funky backdrops. Very nice:





Audiodirections Presents - The Grab Bag (Direct Disk)

The Grab Bag is a group of session musicians, and this album was recorded right here in Nashville in 1976. The Direct Disk label is exactly what it implies - a private release that was recorded direct-to-disk, a method that requires the mixing and mastering to be done simultaneously as the band is playing, due to the fact that it's being cut directly into a master disk with no tape edits or overdubs. Since everything is recorded in real-time, the band has to play each side (appoximately 16-18 minutes each) all the way through with no (or minimal) mistakes and basically zero stoppage (except for a few moments of silence between tracks to change out sheet music). I have a couple other direct-to-disk LPs in my collection, and you have to marvel at the level of musicianship it requires to cut one of those records. This music on this album is slicky-produced jazz, and the arrangements become more impressive when you take the recording style into account. I believe this is the only song available on YouTube, but there are rips of the album available elsewhere on the web if you want to hear the whole thing. I got lucky and found my copy for $2.99 at The Great Escape in Madison.





Gwen McCrae - S/T (Cat)

We'll end it off with a fairly common record that has eluded me for years. I honestly only play one track off here, but it's an absolute classic and definitely worth the $4.99 I paid at Grimey's. Love the vocals, love the groove. Big shout out to The Large Professor!



Well, how's that for coming out of blog hibernation? I love my city and I'm happy to support all the local record stores. Next up is to make a new mix for you guys with all this wax I've been buying. Stay tuned and thanks for checking this out!

Until next time,

Bowls

New MCL mix is available to stream/download

New mix of hip-hop and original samples. Some of the artists are listed in the podcast description, but if you've heard any of my other sets, you probably know where this is headed. Lots of Detroit, lots of NYC, and a smattering of Nashville. All vinyl, all live. Dig it!

MCL 3-16-11

Until next time,

Bowls

Since Day One....

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me, and it's no surprise to anyone who only "knows me" through the music I spin. My ears perked up at the sound of "Wordplay" back in 1996. I remember thinking that THIS was the kind of music I'd been waiting to hear. A perfect blend of the rough and the smooth.

I kept my eyes open for more "produced by Jay Dee for THE UMMAH" credits. This was before the internet was really popping off, so lots of my early Jay Dee discoveries were complete surprises.

The Pharcyde - "Drop"
I LOVED this video but I had no idea who made the beat. Didn't get my hands on the album until a couple years later. Yep.....Jay Dee. His work on that LP was phenomenal.

De La Soul - "Stakes Is High"
Bought this album IMMEDIATELY and just nodded my head when I saw the production credits. Of COURSE it was him on the title track.

Busta Rhymes - "Woo Hah!" (The Jay Dee Other Shit Remix)
My mom wouldn't let me get the "Woo Hah" CD single in 96 because it had the dreaded Parental Advisory sticker on it. I was pissed because I saw that there were TWO Jay Dee remixes on there, and I told her as much while we were in the store. She took a look at the back, and I guess she assumed that my 11-year-old ears really weren't ready for Jay Dee's "Other Shit Remix." I wouldn't get my hands on this until a few years later. It was one of the first 12" singles I ever bought. (I maintain that she would have purchased this for me had the word "shit" not been in the title.)

Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone (Ummah Jay Dee's Revenge Mix)
I LOVED the original mix because it had the vibe that I was seeking out. "The Jay Dee sound," if you will. I remember being shocked when I saw that the video version was credited to Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who weren't exactly making music like that at the time. My younger brother got the CD single of Janet's "Together Again" around Christmas in 1997, and the bonus track was this beast of a remix. The drums, bass, and spacey sample are pretty much vintage Jay Dee. The "Got 'Til It's Gone" double 12" was another early purchase when I got my first turntable.

A Tribe Called Quest - The Love Movement LP
All my favorite beats on here were produced by Jay Dee. Most of the other tracks kind of sounded like Q-Tip's attempts at 97/98-era Jay Dee. "4 Moms" was my favorite beat on there, with the signature bounce that he had completely perfected by 1998. This album caught a lot of flack, and still does, but I enjoyed it just as much as Beats, Rhymes, & Life, which was my only other exposure to Tribe. (I later understood why people criticized the group's shift in production, but that was only after I immersed myself in ATCQ's first three albums around 2000.)

To make a truly long story short, I knew I had a favorite producer by the time 1998 came to a close. It was James Yancey and he went on to influence an entire era of urban music. I miss that guy all the time, and I pay tribute to his music in nearly every set that I spin. While many of his newer fans definitely jumped on the bandwagon after his untimely death, I'm grateful that his work has spread and his legacy has been cemented.

R.I.P. to the GREATEST.

Bowls

Bowls Interview with Tucker & Bloom

Check out my interview with Tucker & Bloom, and give their bags a look while you're at it. BIG SHOUT OUT to Case Bloom, a longtime friend and one of the hardest-working people I know.

Until next time,

Bowls

The MCL Podcast is Moving & Shaking....

A Journey Through J Dilla's Rock Crates - Part II

The latest episode of MCL has pushed the podcast to new heights. In just 48 hours, MCL has gone from #20,532 to #240 in the Music rankings, and it checks in at #2 OVERALL in the Movers & Shakers standings. Amazing. Thanks to everyone who checked out the latest episode, and please subscribe via iTunes so you'll automatically receive the latest and greatest. I'll try to update it more frequently, but I've always been a quality over quantity guy (tell your hard drive to thank me later).

Until next time,

Bowls

...aaaand Cut Chemist does it again.

I've seen videos of Cut doing the one-turntable thing, and its about as impressive as you would imagine. A shoebox of 45s, one mixer, one deck, and a loop pedal....scratching and mixing....and keeping it dance-friendly. There's one thing to be said about the degree of difficulty involved with doing it LIVE, and then there's simply the idea itself, which is equally as nuts. Check it out:



Crazy, right? Then you have the full-blown mix CD, Sound Of The Police. Cut did a couple recent interviews, giving insight on the inspiration for the mix, the first time he ever did it live, and his intent to raise the bar in the overcrowded DJ scene.

LA Weekly Interview
Examiner Q&A

Enjoy, and huge props to Cut Chemist.

Bowls

Radski spinning jazz-funk on MCL

(if that link never loads, click here to open it in another window)

Great mix, and great generosity from Radski as he flashes the LP cover for almost every record he plays.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes (check for the link on the right side of the Podomatic page). The MP3 audio from the mix is a clean recording, straight from the mixer. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Bowls

Coming next week - Guest DJ set by Radski

If you're from the Music City, you might remember Radski as a resident DJ at our old Funky Good Time parties. You might also know him as the drummer for The Dynamites. If you were following the blog last summer, you might remember THIS gem.

No matter how you know him, and even if you don't....prepare for a very special MCL guest mix next week. Radski will be dropping jazz-funk gems and it will be captured on video as well as in MP3 format. Check back here or hit the podcast.

See you next week!

Bowls

MCL 6/30/10 - A Journey Through J Dilla's Rock Crates

I'm blaming my six-week absence on The Bullshit, AKA job hunting. No, I still haven't found one...but a couple nights ago I did manage to record this 37 minute tribute to the legendary J Dilla. All rock samples, all original wax pressings, all live. Crack one open, smoke it if you've got it, or just lay back. This one starts off fairly straight-ahead and then progresses into some prog-rock madness. Enjoy!

MCL 6-30-10

Until next time,

Bowls

Music City Living....THE PODCAST

http://musiccityliving.podomatic.com/

Stream episodes, download your favorites, and subscribe via iTunes for weekly satisfaction. This is just the beginning, hopefully. I'm looking to feature mixes from other DJs (both local and national/international) and also get a few producers to lay down sets live from their MPCs/SPs/Ableton setups (yes that takes skill and creativity).

Until all that happens, you're stuck with me mixing up sets of original samples, dope hip-hop, 80's R&B, and whatever else I feel like cooking up. Enjoy and tell a friend!

Until next time,

Bowls

Music City Living (Full Episode MP3s)

Here's last week's episode: Original Samples

And here's this week's session: 90s West Coast 12"s

I'm gonna try to get nice MP3 copies of each episode from now on. You never know when the UStream site is gonna crash mid-stream. Enjoy!

Until next time,

Bowls

A Laptop Revelation

Anyone who has seen me spin over the last 10 years knows that I've used nothing but wax. And, as recently as a couple weeks ago, I was pretty militant about it. I've tossed around EVERY cranky-ass-DJ criticism that you can think of, including (but not limited to):

-DJs who don't dig for records are lazy.
-DJs who don't dig for records are cheap.
-ANYBODY can be a DJ when all you need is a laptop.
-Laptops have turned DJs into jukeboxes instead of tastemakers.
-MP3s sound like garbage.
-Fuck DJ Hero.
-Wait, better yet, all laptop DJs should just hang it up and play DJ Hero.

A couple weeks ago, however, I was watching the Red Bull 3-Style DJ competition at the Cannery Ballroom. Only one DJ used wax the entire night, and his needles were jumping all over the place, resulting in a less-than-stellar set. The rest of the DJs sounded like shit, and that was mainly due to their song selection (not a big fan of autotuned pop rap) and technique (or lack thereof). I mean, the sole premise of the contest was to mix three different genres of music, with style and flair, for 15 minutes.

Think about that for a second.

How hard could that possibly be in 2010? A laptop will allow you to have THOUSANDS of "records" right at your fingertips, it can arrange tracks by BPM, you can rock doubles of everything, and you can fly through songs at a breakneck pace. Now take all those benefits, mix together three genres of music, do it with style, and you can win a trip down to MIAMI to spin during the Winter Music Conference. And what happened on that night in front of a panel of judges headed by ROB SWIFT?

90% of "Nashville's Finest DJs" simply stunk up the place. Rancid garbage DJs flooding my eardrums with pure trash.

Thank God for Wick-It the Instigator. Although most of the music he played wasn't really up my alley (I don't possess a single dubstep track), he did what I expected EVERY DJ at that contest to do. He was scratching, he was mixing, he was getting on the mic and hyping up the crowd. And afterwards, when I had a second to speak to him, this was the first thing he said to me:

"Yo dude, Serato is the shit. Its not cheating, man, it really isn't."

Its like the guy somehow heard every malicious thought that crossed my mind over the last four or five years. Wick-It is one of the most technically-skilled DJs I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and to be quite honest, I've never held any contempt towards him (or Kidsmeal, for that matter) for ripping shit up with a laptop. In fact, I felt kind of *guilty* when he said that to me, just because I'm afraid I give off some kind of elitist vibe when it comes to this DJ stuff.

With that said, I magically got a hold of a laptop about a week later. My dad's getting a new one, so I'm typing this post on his old company-issued Nobilis. With a free laptop in my possession, all I have to do at this point is fork over a few hundred dollars and join the Dark Side.

I'm excited. And you should be excited too if you're an artist who makes music that I like. No song is safe!

Until next time,

Bowls

We must now take the time...to REMIX IT.

Preview it here.

And download the remix and instrumental here.

TONIGHT at 6 PM CST

Slum Village classics, Ummah productions, remixes, beat CD original samples, early Soulquarian stuff...you name it. This is an all-vinyl affair and I'm gonna do my best to record it. Bookmark my channel and tune in at 6 PM:

Music City Living

Peace!

Bowls

...and Bowls is on the BEAT BOOOOOXXXXXXXX

Quite literally, actually. You guys already know my weapon of choice is the 303, and I suppose I've been feeling a little inspired lately. Here's two beats I've made in the past week, both utilizing samples from my soft rock collection:

"16-0" (<---- should be titled "17-0" now, and "18-0" after UK beats down Auburn)

"Seal of Approval" (<---- If you're white, your parents probably own this original sample)

I'll post the new ones as I make them (if they're dope enough). Thanks for listening, and YES you can rap/scratch/do whatever with these joints as long as you let me know about it! TURN IT UP!

Until next time,

Bowls

MCL alum Radski is IN THE MIX tonight on WRVU

So I talked to D-Funk at the shop the other day and he informed me that Radski would be spinning on his show this Friday. Well it's Friday, and I remembered.

Tune in at 8 PM Central Time.

Oh and if you aren't in Nashville, you can listen on WRVU's website.

Until next time,

Bowls

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