Category: Mixtape

Soul Music by William Ruben Helms

Last week Ghostface Killah celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the release of his seminal debut album Ironman with a special broadcast on his Blue & Cream Sonos station that saw the beloved emcee taking listeners through the entire album, track by track, reflecting on the stories behind what may arguably be one of the more important influential albums within the Wu-Tang universe.

Today, Ghostface released another special episode “Ghost Season of Love.” The episode features Ghost playing some of his favorite tracks that should be part of your Valentine’s Day, however you’re spending it. Fittingly, the mix features tracks from Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Lauryn Hill, Prince, Stevie Wonder and more. And it’s that Quiet Storm fire that all you lovers you there need today.

The Ghost Season of Love playlist

1. Ghostface Killa & Ne-Yo – “Back Like That” (0:00:06)

2. Marvin Gaye – “I Want You” (0:00:55)

3. Lauryn Hill – “Nothing Even Matters” feat. D’Angelo (0:05:25)

4. Sade – “Your Love Is King” (0:11:12)

5. Mali Music – “Loved By You” feat. Jazmine Sullivan – (0:14:50)

6. Tony Terry – “With You” (0:19:05)

7. Case – “Happily Ever After” (0:24:09)

8. Prince – “Adore” 2020 Remaster (0:28:47)

9. Daley – “Alone Together” feat. Marsha Ambrosius (0:35:17)

10. Stevie Wonder – “You and I” (0:39:16)

11. Ghostface Killah, Vaughn Anthony & Estelle – “Paragraphs of Love” (0:43:54)

12. The Whispers – “Lady” (0:47:47)

13. Snoh Aalegra – “Find Someone Like You” (0:52:50)

14. PJ Morton – “First Began” (0:56:15)

15. Luther Vandross “If This World Were Mine” with Cheryl Lynn – (1:00:08)

16. Jaheim – “Diamond In da Ruff” (1:05:22)

17. Brian McKnight – “Back At One” (1:08:38)

18. Ghostface Killah, Ne-Yo – “Back Like That” (1:13:00)

electronica by William Ruben Helms

Deriving their name from the tittle of 1993’s “Chemical Beats,” a single which helped establish their sound, the acclaimed Manchester UK-based electronic duo The Chemical Brothers — Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons — can trace their origins back to 1989, when they initially formed as The Dust Brothers. And although they were forced to change their name `in 1995, when they discovered that another act existed with the same name, the Manchester-based electronic duo are considered pioneers of big beat electronica, along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and The Crystal Method.

The British duo’s debut, 1995’s Exit Planet Dust, which features the aforementioned “Chemical Beats” went on to sell over a million copies globally. They caught the attention of Virgin Records, who signed the act and released their sophomore album, Dig Your Own Hole, which topped the UK charts. In their native England, the duo have six #1 albums, 13 Top 20 singles — and two #1 hits.

Here in the States, the duo have won six Grammy Awards including Best Rock Instrumental Performance, Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronic Album of the Year, which they’ve won three times in the category’s Grammy history, including as recently as 2020.

With the forced hiatus in touring, the acclaimed Manchester- based duo have managed to remain busy: they have their own Sonos Radio HD station Radio Chemical. The station features some mixtapes that the pair have expertly and loving curated, including their latest “Early Rap and Beyond Mix.” (The mix is available both on Sonos Radio and Mixcloud, which allows anyone to listen to it.)

“In this ‘Early Rap and Beyond” mix we celebrate the moments disco met rap. All mixed from the original 12” records we take you all around the 5 boroughs whilst also finding the space to throw down some other essential b boy curveballs,” the duo explain.

Featuring some deep crate digging obscurities for even the most ardent hip-hop head, like Super 3’s “When You’re Standing on Top of the World,” Pied Piper of Funkingham’s “Clap Song,” Sweaty G’s “We Want to Get Down” and a lengthy list of others (which you can see below), the mix captures a unique moment in the beloved genre’s history: it’s pioneering first decade or so, when it was brand new, and still centered around local block parties. And as a result, each song is a dance floor banger, built around the big breakbeats meant to get the b-boys and b-girls off the wall, and popping and locking.

Playlist:

Super 3 – “When You’re Standing on Top of the World”

Count Coolout- “Here to Stay” (Instrumental)

Sugar Baby Weet – “Ah Bam Bam Just Jam”

Fantasy 3 – “It’s Your Rock”

TJ Swann – “Get Fly”

Jackson 2 – “Oh Yeah”

2001 Kazoos “Mr. Magic”

Harlem World Crew -“Let’s Rock”

TJ Swann – “Maximus Party”

Sweaty G – “We Want To Get Down”

Grandmaster Chilly T- “Rock The Message Rap”

Time Zone – “Wild Style”

The Chemical Brothers – “Go”

The Last Poets – “Mean Machine Chant”

Can – “Vitamin C”

Take Two – “The People’s Message”

Pied Piper of Funkingham – “Clap Song”

Xanadu – “Sure Shot”


Stack – “Win Jesse Win”

Troy Rainey “Trouble Tee Rap”

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

JOVM has been a (mostly) one-man operation that I’ve run out of my Corona, Queens, NYC apartment and out of various Starbucks in and around Queens for its nine-plus year history. Unsurprisingly, I’m usually multi-tasking while going through countless emails featuring tracks, mixtapes, videos —  and as a result I wind up stumbling upon a wild variety of interesting things. In this case, I stumbled upon the “48 hr Pu$$yMIX 1.0” mixtape by the mysterious emcee, Memphis-based Elle. (I’m presuming she’s based in Memphis because of all the love shown to the city. But who knows? I can’t find a thing about her.)

Although it was released earlier this year, the mixtapes features some of the most self-assured, swaggering bars and wildly inventive rhyming I’ve heard in some time over tweeter and woofer rocking, feverish productions. Simply put — this this is fire.

 

 

 

indie rock by William Ruben Helms

Founded back in 2014 by Jessica Louise Dye (vocals, guitar) and Jono Bernstein (drums), the New York-based JOVM mainstays High Waisted have received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere for a sound that draws from surf rock, garage rock, dream pop, Riot Grrl punk and punk rock among others and for their long-running and very popular DIY concert showcase/booze cruise High Waisted at Sea.

The band’s Bryan Pugh-produced full-length debut On Ludlow further cemented their reputation for scuzzy, party ’til you drop rock — but just under the surface, the material revealed vulnerability and ache.  Since the release of On Ludlow, the the band contributed “Firebomb,” a scuzzy, ass-kicking, power chord-driven Lita Ford and Motley Crue-like single to a split single with The Coax, toured with the likes of Hundred Hounds, Beechwood, played a handful of live shows across town and been periodically working on a bunch of new material. And they’ve done all of that while going through a series of lineup changes but one thing has remained: they’re a non-stop party machine.

Throughout their history, the JOVM mainstays have released an ongoing, psychedelic mixtape series, Acid Tapes and like the preceding three other editions, the fourth edition, which will drop on Friday finds the New York-based act covering an eclectic variety of beloved songs. Naturally, the covers reveal the band’s impressive and wide ranging tastes   with the fourth edition featuring the band’s unique take on songs by the likes of The Zombies, 10cc, Kacey Musgraves, The Troggs and others. As the band explains in press notes, the covers allow them to  “dissect songs we love, throw everything we know about them away and rebuild something entirely new.” The band’s frontwoman Jessica Louise Dye adds “It changes the gravitational pull in my creative mind, often spawning a big writing period of new High Waisted material as well.” Along with covers, there are a handful of rare, previously unreleased originals.

The fourth installment of Acid Tapes may arguably find the JOVM mainstays at their best sounding. The guitars shimmer and glisten while the band’s Jessica Louise Dye sounds at her very best, beginning with a gorgeous and Patsy Cline-like take of The Zombies,” “The Way I Feel Inside,” a Pretenders-like original, “Modern Love,” a stunningly accurate 60s and dexterous take on The Lively Ones  instrumental composition “Surf Rock,” a dream pop-like take of Kacey Musgraves’ “High Horse” that nods at Still Corners‘ gorgeous Slow Air, the slow-burning, Quiet Storm-like original “Dream Sea,” and a slow-burning, straightforward take on 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” closes out the tape’s A Side. The tape’s B side features the anthemic and alt rock meets alt country ballad “Eyes Crying,” which manages to recall Pearl Jam‘s “Dissident” to my ears, a Cars meets Phil Spector Wall of Sound-like take on Wreckless Eric‘s “Whole Wide World” before ending with a heartbreakingly gorgeous cover of Julie London‘s “Cry Me a River.” It’s a wildly eclectic grouping of songs but the mixtape reveals the JOVM mainstays’ ridiculous versatility paired with a deep emotional connection to the material.

“Our recording process has come a long way from the first cassette. Acid Tape, Vol. 1 was recorded while were on acid, all in one go, in a haunted house in Nashville. A buddy of ours threw a room mic over the chandelier and ran it through the tape deck and away we went.  Now the recording process is more deliberate, articulated and better executed.” the band explains in press notes. Vol 4 was recorded entirely in our new studio which Jono Bernstien and Stephen Nielsen built in Bed Stuy. We’re mixing digital and analog gear with vintage instruments and a little magic.”

The band is celebrating the release of  Acid Tape, Vol. 4 with a release show at Mercury Lounge with Yella Belly and Songs for Sabotage. You can check out ticket info and purchase here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/high-waisted-acid-tapes-vol-4-release-party-tickets-69052520949?aff=efbeventtix&fbclid=IwAR1c18aYR2lwka706043Xe4Wu5DGHXUerQf3xwlTVR9BVzl4Asu6z36VUC0

You can purchase the pre-release of the limited edition mixtape here: https://www.highwaisted.party/merch/acid-tape-vol-4

 

 

 

hip-hop by William Ruben Helms

It’s been a decade since  J. Dilla‘s tragic and untimely death due to complications from Lupus and over that period of time, the prolific, Detroit-born producer and beatmaker’s reputation has grown — to the point that he is arguably one of hip-hop’s most beloved and influential artists and producers; in fact, much of his work possesses a timelessness and vitality that few contemporary producers of any genre can manage. The past year has seen the posthumous release of Dilla’s emcee debut The Diary, an effort that has engendered quite a bit of controversy between Dilla’s surviving family, the executors of his creative estate and fans. Sadly, Dilla had died before he could finish the album and much of the album’s material was largely unfinished, leaving producers the difficult task of piecing and stitching together incomplete song ideas and filling in musical gaps all while trying their best to hew as closely to its creators intentions as they could. And naturally as you can imagine that leaves a ton of questions about the very nature of art, its creation, and whether it’s ethical to mine a deceased creator’s incomplete works to make money among countless others.

Interestingly enough, 2016 is also the tenth anniversary of the posthumous relate of J. Dilla’s The Shining through BBE Records, and to celebrate the occasion the label is about to release the project on 7 inch vinyl for the first time ever. Along with that, the folks at Boiler Room stumbled upon an unreleased and largely unheard mixtape that the renowned and beloved producer made sometime between mid 1999 and early 2000 — and the mixtape reveals that Dilla had a diverse and eclectic array of musical influences, and was restlessly digging in the crates and looking for that perfect groove, that perfect breakbeat, that perfect bassline that he could use for a song. Throughout the mixtape you’ll hear Dilla exploring jazz, funk, disco, R&B, soul, pop, New Wave, blue eyed soul, Afrobeat and others — and in some way you can hear every one of those genres influencing his aesthetic vision.

TRACKLIST

Chick Corea “Bliss”

Roy Porter Sound Machine “Jessica”

A Taste of Honey “Boogie Oogie Oogie”

The Doobie Brothers “What A Fool Believes”

Heatwave “The Groove Line”

Funkineven & Greg Beato “F’s Diss”

B’52’s “Mesopotamia”

Total Experience “Contradiction”

Bobby Caldwell “Open Your Eyes”

Roberta Flack “Feel Like Makin’ Love”

Stevie Wonder “As”

Love Unlimited “Under The Influence of Love”

Azymuth “Un Amigo (A Friend)”

Shuggie Otis “Undisclosed”

Ohio Players “Ecstasy ”

Grandmaster Flash “Undisclosed”

Michael Jackson “I Can’t Help It”

Myra Barnes “The Message From The Soul Sisters”

Donald Byrd “Think Twice”

Fred Wesley “Watergate”

Crusaders “Streetlife”

Loose Ends “Stay A Little While, Child”

The Temptations “Runaway Child, Running Wild”

Chaka Khan “Ain’t Nobody”

Rene & Angela “I Love You More”

Stevie Wonder “Reggae Woman”

Rene & Angela “I’ll Be Good”

Steve Arrington “U Meet My Approval”

Alicia Myers “I Want to Thank You”

The System “You Are In My System”

Sly Stone “Family Affair”

Cameo “Back N Forth”

Hall & Oates “I Can’t Go For That”

Slave “Watching You”

Tom Browne “Jamaica Funkin'”

Bobby Caldwell “I Don’t Want To Lose Your Love”

UNKNOWN

The Gap Band “Yearning For Your Love”

Fela Kuti “Water No Get Enemy”

Marvin Gaye “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again”

Rick James “Mary Jane”

Sade “Sweetest Taboo”

24 Karat “Black Ghetto”

Heatwave “Mind What You Find”

MFSB “Love Is The Message”

Evelyn King “I’m In Love”

George Benson “Love X Love”

Change “Glow of Love”

Positive Force “We Got The Funk”

 

 

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

As I’ve mentioned a number of times throughout the history of this site, I’m often multitasking while working on blog posts and as a result I frequently wind up serendipitously discovering new things to write about for the site; in this case, I stumbled across a young, up-and-coming DJ and producer, DJ Mestizo‘s contemporary funk, disco and boogie mixtape Unfadable MF (Modern Funk) and make no mistake, the mixtape is a collection of funk that would make The Whispers, George Clinton, Dam-Funk and others extremely proud.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Since its opening back in 2008, Outlook Festival has developed a reputation for being among the world’s preeminent sound system festival — and for providing sound system fans of all stripes an incredibly unique experience, as the proceedings are set amidst an abandoned fort and the beaches of Punta Christo, Croatia; in fact, the festival has hosted several hundred artists and was named Best Overseas Festival at the 2011 UK Festivals Awards.

This year, the US Launch Party, which takes place next week at The Paper Box in Bushwick, Brooklyn marks the beginning of several worldwide events in advance of this year’s festival in September. And for next week’s launch party the folks at Outlook Festival have teamed up with the folks at Dub Stuy, best known for developing and building a 15,000 watt bespoke, wooden speaker system The Tower of Sound, which will be used for an event which will feature two of Europe’s best known sound system champions – Glasgow, Scotland’s Mungo’s Hi-Fi and French-Swiss act O.B.F. — will battle against each other in two rounds of dubplates and other mixes on the Tower of Sound. Both crews will be accompanied by vocalists, who represent every era of sound system music including Jamaica’s Ranking Joe, France’s Shanti D, and Brooklyn’s Jay Speaker. Also Portland‘s E3, founder of acclaimed label ZamZam Sounds, as well as local selectors Scratch Famous and Dub Stuy’s resident DJs will be there for what will be a full night of dub and sound system music. And of course, JOVM will be there to cover the events of the night. But before that, check out Mungo Hi-Fi’s incredible and exclusive NYC Outlook Festival Launch Party mix.

Tickets are $10/$12/$15 and for those who are 21+. Cop tickets here y’all: http://www.dub-stuy.com.

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

With 2016 being a few hours old, let’s get the year started on a little bit of new music. Now if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past year, you may recall that I wrote about the Los Angeles-based act, Mothership Collective. Their last mixtape All Nigga Radio was largely influenced by Parliament Funkadelic, Too Short, Roni Size, Bootsy Collins and others, and was written and conceived as a continuous late night radio broadcast featuring several genres of music, namely hip-hop, funk, reggae, commercials, snippets of interviews and disc jockey ramblings with a biting satirical bent as the mixtape thematically explored how mainstream media and mainstream music can pervert your soul, your perceptions of the world and others by encouraging people to see the world through dangerously cartoonish stereotypes.

The collective’s latest mixtape, Ghetto Galactic is a heady and sonically challenging mix of futuristic hip hop, funktech, alien soul, trap, trap house, G-funk-inspired hip-hop in an incredibly slick, modern production. And much like All Nigga Radio, the act’s satire still manages to be incredibly incisive as it continues to point out the ridiculousness of stereotyped imagery and marketing, and empty imagery of fame and success– while featuring dope emcees spitting fire over dope beats.

GHETTO GALACTIC SIDE A

Intro
Ghetto Galactic (JSwift / Lukecage)
Kush ( M20 / Lukecage)
Backyard Party ( Lukecage / Longevity and Some Girl)
Full Pull (Triple 7 / Lukecage)
Adamantium (Lukecage)
Interlude (Lukecage)
Bricks Bitch (Lukecage / Big Bricks)
Mr. YaYa (Big Hit / Lukecage)
Interview With Cage (JSwift / Lukecage)
They Really Beat Him (Lukecage)
IDGAF (Young Mizu / Lukecage)
Colors
AB 4 Ghetto Galactic (Abstract Butta Fingas / Lukecage)
Junky
Latin Yuji (DJ Yuji / Lukecage)
Kingslish (Bigg Doxx / Lukecage)
Dicey 101 (Lukecage)
Intermission (The Koreatown Oddity / Lukecage)

GHETTO GALACTIC SIDE B
Opra Got Weed For You (Lukecage)
Koreatown Galactic (The Koreatown Oddity / Lukecage)
Freaky Style (DJ D-Styles / Lukecage)
Mothership Malt Liquor Wine
The Body (Longevity / Lukecage)
Ash Put This In That Video (Lukecage)
Can You Smell The Flavor Coming Through Your Speakers? (Lukecage)
Phase Shift (Dynamics Plus / Lukecage)
Yeti Ship One (Sub Yeti / Lukecage)
XMHFHJHUIGGVFVV
Pimp Saint Peter (JSwift / Lukecage)
Mothership My Ass Nigga Interlude (Lukecage)
Street Meat (JSwift / Lukecage)
Human Race (Harv Nicholes)

 

Spotify Playlist by William Ruben Helms

 

Over the past couple of months I’ve been experimenting with a monthly Spotify playlist that covers the songs I’ve reviewed over the course of the past month, along with the songs I’ve referenced. And although some songs almost always seem to be missing during the initial compilation, I think it still manages to be a fairly comprehensive look at the past month on JOVM. (Just an early world, December will be pretty interesting as there will be a monthly playlist and I will be doing a Best of List primarily through Spotify as an additional experiment. But we’re jumping ahead here.)

November’s playlist continues the eclectic and tasteful curation that this site has long been known for and includes Aroc!‘s collaborations with Eric Bellinger, the gorgeous sounds of Floating Points, the socially conscious psych rock of Brazilian superstars Boogarins, JOVM mainstays Rene Lopez, Escort, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Pr0files, White Reaper, Beacon, New Order and Freddie Gibbs and others among a lengthy list. You’ll catch new singles from the Houston, TX-born, New York-based indie soul artist Melany Watson, several singles off Coke Weed‘s excellent Mary Weaver, two singles off The Giraffes kick ass, stoner rock album Usury, a new single from Swedish psych rock sensation Caviare Days, anthemic singles from Brandi Carlile‘s powerhouse country album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter and Canadian trio Red Moon Road, a few singles off Neon Indian‘s club-friendly VEGA Intl. Night School and more. There’s quite a bit of funk on this list as I make references to The Whispers, The Gap Band, Kool and the Gang, Chic, Rick James, and others. And there’s quite of synth pop including Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, The Human League and more.  Check it out and tell your friends while you’re at it!