Based in the nation's capital since 2000, DJ D-Mac has been burning up dancefloors everywhere he goes. Spiritually akin to the anything-goes-as-long-as-it-is-funky approach of turntable heroes The Avalanches, balaeric-era Chemical Brothers, Dynamo Productions, Coldcut, DJ Food, & Cut Chemist among others, D-Mac brings an eclectic, party-rocking, crate-obsessed mix of tunes to his DJ sets.
“Closer to the Edge” is my favorite song off of the new All Good Funk Alliance album Jack Of All Trades, written by Frank Cueto (my husband!) and produced by our own Rusty B. It is really a very cool thing to watch a song be put together from the beginning. Sometimes it can be very annoying and very repetitive but always cool to be a witness to the creative process! “Closer to the Edge” is my favorite off this album as I can not resist a good female vocal and Piper Davis delivers on that and then some.
I’ve long been a fan of self-described “mixtape king” DJ Moneyshot. His ‘anything goes’ approach to his mixes results in bewildering blends of easy listening, drum’n'bass, rock, electronica, and hip-hop. He’s definitely been an inspiration, as well as damn good listening.
So when I heard he’d moved beyond super-clever mash ups (check out his re-boot of Elvis Presley’s “Mystery Train” for just one piece of proof) and turned his feverish hands to production, I was quick to find out what he’d cooked up.
“Rob Resurrected” is a thick slab of hip-hop inspired downtempo done right, complete with chopped soul and disco samples. From the forthcoming Jalapeno Funk Vol. 4 compilation, released May 28th on one of the all-time best funk and downtempo labels, Jalapeno Records. This is the kind of solid, well-produced, breaks-based music that doesn’t get much shine in these days of speaker-shredding bass wobble, so I’m more than happy to pay respect here.
Don’t let the terrible YouTube background image fool you… this is uplifting modern soul heaven at it’s best… not the theme from Jaws or LL Cool J’s “My Hat is Like a Shark’s Fin” from Deep Blue Sea.
Seville was a short-lived apparition, made up of musicians from various DC groups who took it upon themselves to cut one single in their downtime between other projects. That solo effort was blessed with excellent production work from DC’s genius Al Johnson, formerly of the Unifics. The side featured here, “Show Me The Way,” sails ahead with strings and smile-inducing horns that lead you into a headbob groove with positive lyrics on top. Hopefully you’ll find it to be as pleasureful as I do.
After getting a request to play Queen’s“Bohemian Rhapsody” at a wedding last weekend I decided to listen to the entire Night at the Opera LP. I’ve had the record since the late 70′s, but hadn’t given it a spin in a while.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is on it in all its glory near the end of Side Two, but you guys know that one already. My song of the day – “Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…)” – starts Side One with a rather large bang! “Death” is one of the ultimate kiss-off songs and is (not so subtly) written about Queen’s former manager Norman Sheffield. Freddie Mercury‘s lyrics were so strong and venomous that some of the other band members were concerned but relented in the end. Besides caustic lyrics this song shows Queen at their dynamic best. Very few bands (Led Zeppelin and the Pixies maybe) could do the quiet/loud thing as well as Queen.
Here’s a live clip from Earls Court in London in 1977. Rock on!
“The All Good Funk Alliance return with an incredible new album that will launch you into the outer reaches of future go-go, nu-disco, glitch hop and good old fashioned space funk.”
Today being May Day, what more appropriate song than the anthem of International Workers? Here is Billy Bragg singing the first verse with his own lyrics. Watch the full video for the story of Pete Seeger convincing him to come up with this modern version on a deadline.
Way out on the edge of Virginia and West Virginia in the hills there is a wonderful little vineyard called Hillsborough Vineyard. The view from the back of the converted barn space onto the rolling hills beyond is wonderful, and you get a sense of what old world Virginia must have been like.
Erik & Ann had planned for dancing out on the patio and underneath the stars. Unfortunately, with the weather suddenly turning cold and rainy we had to switch up the plans for having the dancing portion of the evening outside and instead we set up everything inside the dining room for dinner and dancing. The rain was kind enough to let up around the time the ceremony was supposed to start and the staff there quickly dried off all the chairs and had everyone outside in minutes. The ceremony was beautiful with the sun setting behind the couple as it ended.
The unusual April rain held out long enough for an outdoor ceremony
After the ceremony, everyone was moved inside for a cocktail hour that was set up in the bar and dinning area, the dinning area was warm and inviting with a nice fireplace going and very elegant lighting. Musically, I played a set of Bossa Nova and Samba with songs like Ceu “Grains de Beaute”and Rosalia de Souza “Zona Sul” mixed with some rare classics that I had in my collection. For dinner I played all classical guitar music with a Spanish slant. Ann and Erik’s fathers both gave toasts, and soon dinner was served.
After dinner the first dance was Tom Waits “Picture in Frame”and the father/daugher dance was Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” I then opened the dance floor to some Motown classics and a fun 80′s set with Madonna “Get into the Groove”, Michael Jackson “Billy Jean”and sprinkled in some newer stuff like MGMT “Kids.” The biggest hit of the night was probably “Jai Ho” from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack into Panjabi MC’s “Mundian to Back Ke.” It was soon time to end the night so I slowed it down with Yo La Tengo’s “Our Way to Fall”and finished with The The’s “This is the Day.”
We then sent the couple off though the front doors by clapping and ringing bells and another great wedding was had at the vineyard.
First Fridays monthly: ghetto funk • future go-go • boogie
Back for the second installment of our newly rebooted funk night, DJ D-Mac & Rusty B invite you to Dodge City for serious dance floor action featuring bangin’ ghetto funk, future go-go, and boogie.
Robert Livingstone Thompson, also known as Dandy Livingstone, was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He moved to United Kingdom at the aged of 15 and by 1964 was releasing a torrent of singles on labels such as Carnival, Blue Beat and Trojan.
You might not know who he is but you might know the song “Rudy, A Message To You” written by Dandy in 1967 and covered by The Specials in 1979. “I’m Your Puppet” is a cover of a song by James & Bobby Purify. Personally I think everything sounds better in rocksteady form. I recently used this track in a Dub track I made called “In A Way.” Check out the original and the track I used it in below.
Throwback alert! To me, this is one of unfortunately too few indy hip hop releases from the late 1990s that has aged pretty well. With one foot firmly planted in the old-school, DJ Eli (now Eli Escobar) has gone on to produce fantastic house joints, but “Truly Gifted Ones,” a co-production with Shan Boogs, is an example of great NYC indy hip hop.
“Closer to the Edge” is my favorite song off of the new All Good Funk Alliance album Jack Of All Trades, written by Frank Cueto (my husband!) and produced by our own Rusty B. It is really a very cool thing to watch a song be put together from the beginning. Sometimes it can be very annoying and very repetitive but always cool to be a witness to the creative process! “Closer to the Edge” is my favorite off this album as I can not resist a good female vocal and Piper Davis delivers on that and then some. 
Don’t let the terrible YouTube background image fool you… this is uplifting modern soul heaven at it’s best… not the theme from Jaws or LL Cool J’s “My Hat is Like a Shark’s Fin” from Deep Blue Sea.
Way out on the edge of Virginia and West Virginia in the hills there is a wonderful little vineyard called 
After dinner the first dance was Tom Waits “Picture in Frame”and the father/daugher dance was Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” I then opened the dance floor to some Motown classics and a fun 80′s set with Madonna “Get into the Groove”, Michael Jackson “Billy Jean”and sprinkled in some newer stuff like MGMT “Kids.” The biggest hit of the night was probably “Jai Ho” from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack into Panjabi MC’s “Mundian to Back Ke.” It was soon time to end the night so I slowed it down with Yo La Tengo’s “Our Way to Fall”and finished with The The’s “This is the Day.”
Robert Livingstone Thompson, also known as Dandy Livingstone, was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He moved to United Kingdom at the aged of 15 and by 1964 was releasing a torrent of singles on labels such as Carnival, Blue Beat and Trojan.
Throwback alert! To me, this is one of unfortunately too few indy hip hop releases from the late 1990s that has aged pretty well. With one foot firmly planted in the old-school, DJ Eli (now 
