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!

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