The Zombies

Melanie Fiona’s Give It to Me Right owes a lot of its groove to The Zombies.

Years ago, I was at a record store doing some browsing and came across a Best of/Greatest Hits vinyl of The Zombies. 

It did not have Time of the Season among its track listing! I placed that album right back in the racks.

It would be years later that I would learn Time of the Season was the last big hit for The Zombies.

Their singles She’s Not There and Tell Her No were recorded at the peak of the 1960s British Invasion.

No matter the season, Time of the Season is my iconic Zombies single.

Chaka Khan

As a boy, I learned she had a career before I was born but had no means to conceptualize that fact.  Next would be the iconic I Feel For You in 1984.  

I had wondered for a good while whether Chaka Khan was already inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame considering that it has been more than 25 years since the release of her solo debut album.

I also had the pleasure of catching her performance at Metropolis for the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

Take the time to revisit some classic Chaka Khan when you can, live or otherwise.

It would take my being much older to now own some of her albums and CDs recorded before and after my birth.  

I figured that if she is not already inducted, this is the ideal time to honor her and her Rufus band mates.

Her first imprint in my musical consciousness was with Ain’t Nobody.

Madvillain - Madvillainy (2004)

I didn’t see the Madvillainy album coming.

I desperately needed good hip hop at the time I heard the album.  I still do to this day actually.
From the moment I listened to Madvillainy, I understood why it made so many Best-Of year end lists when it was released. I and many consider to be the best hip hop album of the decade.  If non-hip hop magazines loved that album, then there was something there for me. Ever since then, I've been the biggest Madlib fan that either of us know.

MF Doom had become one of hip hop’s most notable figures and teamed up with Madlib to produce what I and many consider to be the best hip hop album of the last ten years, Madvillany.

I was so discouraged and disappointed at the lack of creativity, originality a the time that I almost didn’t want to hear Madvillainy when it was presented to me. 
It just goes to show that any artist is capable of turning out masterpieces under the right circumstances.  

There was a hope that the next Madvillain project would give even more bang for the buck than the first.  Unfortunately, we lost M.F. Doom a few years ago. 

George Benson

From my childhood, I knew that George Benson’s Give Me The Night could rock a party of grown-ups. 

I had seen the adults dance to it at parties. As a grown up, I know that the song can rock me and other grownups at a party. That indeed is a quality of timeless music.

As much as Michael Jackson’s Thriller was the first non-children’s record I asked to be bought for me, my remembering the impact of George Benson’s early 1980s music is among my first memories of popular music.

 
I would not think about George Benson until in the very late 1990s when I was introduced to jazz music, a former coworker handed me two CDs from which I would base my musical education of the genre. One was Thelonious Monk and the other was George Benson.

That compilation of early George Benson music would introduce me to Wes Montgomery and how important he was to George Benson. 

I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or not but yesterday while I was on Wellington Street in Montreal,  I heard his 1983 track on what was his birthday.  If you don't know the one I'm referring to, give below a listen. 

Ken Boothe

Ken Boothe became my favortie of the early rocksteady reggae male vocalists.

Aside from us sharing the same zodiac sign, his delivery and passionate approach to songs are the most remarkable when listening to his songs.

During a vinyl mixdown session, I dropped a Wilson Pickett album cut and someone noticed the similarities between Wilson Pickett and Ken Boothe.

I had read that too and the fact that Ken Boothe did a cover of Wilson Pickett's Danger Zone does not escape me.

Madlib

I haven't been as excited for a hip hop producer's work since DJ Premier.

During the Jiggy era of hip hop, I couldn't care less who or what was going on. I was frustrated at the direction hip hop was going and sought refuge in classic rock, soul and breaks. I went to where hip hop music started from.

I was reintroduced to the name Madlib who I barely knew of through his connection to Lootpack/Alkaholiks. The unlikely combination of MF Doom and Madlib worked perfectly. It stands to reason that I see them individually and collectively as hip hop hopes. I continue to hope they recreate their magic again.

I love Madlib! I tweeted Thank Heaven for Madlib one night during my Suite Delight show and meant it.

There have been debates as to whether Madvillainy is a better album than Champion Sound. For Champion Sound to be pitted against my champion meant I had to check it out. The album featuring the legend-in-his-time Dilla working with my current producer of choice by default would indeed find itself on my Best Hip Hop Albums list. 



Madlib's production manges to incorporate my musical past, present and future. I'm hungry for songs using classic samples. I enjoy what he makes now and probably will tomorrow. Just as Theo Parrish embodies everything I want to be as a DJ, Madlib embodies everything I want from a producer. With that said, his sounds are in tune with my frequency or wavelength. Like Pavlov’s dog, all I need is to see and hear his name or that he's involved in a project and my face lights up like a kid on Christmas. His production takes me back to the wonder years of golden era hip hop when the productions were not only creative but innovative. 

I'm in awe of his creativity and the sheer output of projects he's involved with. If I were a producer, I'd do what Madlib does, at least in my way. Whether I'm as incredible with my work as him would remain to be seen & heard.

He is quite possibly the only artist in hip hop, with the exception of DOOM, that I look out for. What a coincidence! The two form Madvillain and I'm waiting for their next album together now. 

Who said lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place?

The Suite Delight - April 1 Playlist:

1. James Last - Inner City Blues 
2. Scrimshire - All I Do feat. Stac
3. Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme - The Dark End Of The Street 
4. Greenwood Rhythm Coalition - Guajira '78 (Colman Bros. Remix)
5. Omar - Ghana Emotion (Una Mas Trio Remix)
6. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Get Up, Stand Up (Thievery Corporation Remix)
7. Mo Kolours - Bomptious (Shafiq Husayn Remix)
8. Fashawn – The Ecology
9. Jazz Spastiks - Move (Remix) feat. Apani B Fly
10. Moka Only - More Soup feat. MF Doom
11. Fat Joe - John Blaze Ft. Nas, Big Pun, Jadakiss & Raekwon
12. Jadakiss - Why (Remix) feat. Styles P, Common, Nas & Anthony Hamilton 
13. Naughty By Nature ‎– Guard Your Grill (Smooth Mix)
14. EPMD - Total Kaos
15. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Robes feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Domo Genesis

The Suite Delight - February 25, 2014 (2) Playlist:

1. Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell (Large Professor Remix)
2. Diverse - Uprock
3. Jay Dee - Pause feat. Frank-N-Dank
4. Strong Arm Steady - Questions featuring Planet Asia & Fashawn
5. Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost (Remix)
6. Soul Khan - Knuckle Puck featuring Koncept, 8thW1 & Homeboy Sandman
7. Quasimoto - Rappcats, Pt. 3
8. Supastition - Yada Yada
9. Murs & 9th Wonder - Murs Day
10. Mobb Deep - Win or Lose
11. Wale - Um'Ricka feat. K'Naan
12. K-Solo - Letterman (Pete Rock Remix)
13. The Extremities - Cold Cheese
14. D-Sisive x Tone Mason – Maybe I Will feat. DJ Grouch

Gary Oldman

I have known and seen Gary Oldman’s work for over 30 years.

I, like most others, saw him as an underground, independent film hero tackling roles that would not usually pack North American movie theatres. 

My earliest memories related to Oldman are watching films like Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, and Dracula during the early 1990s.  Those tended to be films that would leave the audience with more questions than answers by the time the credits rolled.

Later on, he appeared in bigger budget films like Air Force One, The Professional, and The Fifth Element. 

None of those films were bigger budget than the revived Christopher Nolan Batman series.  He was perfectly cast as the dependable, reliable, dutiful Commissioner Gordon. 

As much as I knew his name and face in many films over the years, I truly respected him as an actor when I saw The Contender.  He transformed himself  perfectly into the role of the jealous, antagonist politician to Joan Allen’s character.  Ideally, Oldman should have been nominated and received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in the film.  Instead, that honor of Best Supporting Actor nomination went to Jeff Bridges. 

Gary Oldman was finally nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars ceremony in February 2012.  Unfortunately, he lost to Jean Dujardin in The Artist.  I hadn’t seen Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy until months later.  Oldman again transformed himself into the middle-aged British bureaucrat. 

I read an article stating that in the near future there will be a revision of the Oscars and the consensus will be that Gary Oldman should have received the award for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I haven’t seen The Artist yet but it is obvious Oldman was the artist I was rooting for to win the coveted award. 

We didn't have to wait long for Oldman to receive an Oscar for again transforming himself into Winston Churchill for Darkest Hour.    

DJ Premier

I was thrilled to see DJ Premier emerge as the main man for hip hop production. 

I was not only amazed at his ascension but his sounds as well. 

The list of artists he worked with outside of Gang Starr is mind-blowing.




On Masta Ace’s first appearance in Montreal, I met him at Off the Hook during an autograph signing. I didn’t forget to ask him if DJ Premier produced Saturday Nite Live because I knew my chances of getting the answer would be even slimmer afterwards. According to Ace, Premier did the cuts on the cut.

I remember Gang Starr performing in Montreal years ago and I would have asked Premier if he had produced Masta Ace’s posse cut while he was autographing my CDs. I forgot to do so probably because I was too shook from watching him sign the booklets and because I was among a mob deep of Montreal hip hop heads hustling to get his autograph.

Lee “Scratch” Perry

Being the eager student seeking to increase my musical education and learn more about the reggae pioneer, I knew I had to be there when the Lee “Scratch” Perry documentary was being screened by Blue Sunshine.



The documentary was pretty informative for anyone that knew little about Lee “Scratch” Perry. I was privy to some stories about Lee “Scratch” Perry long before. My reggae music mentor and Dansez Chez Vous colleague Dubny told me a lot about the Black Ark Studio, his burning it down and his marriage to a younger woman. Most of what I was told was confirmed. I got to hear Lee “Scratch” Perry's perspective and see archived footage to go along with the stories.

I hadn’t taken notes in the dark since my Introduction to Film Studies class. The documentary stated the Lee “Scratch” Perry songs and artists.  

I wrote down as many as I could for my future research.

Dub Echoes made me understand how important Lee Perry is to electronic music.

I wonder if Lee Perry & George Clinton ever met or recorded music together.

Perry is as peculiar as he was described and I imagined. 

Regardless of those eccentricities, he is responsible for a great deal where reggae music is concerned, especially its greatest export Bob Marley & the Wailers.

Bun-B

Bun B makes his way onto this blog out of sheer respect alone.



I of course paid no mind to the U.G.K. material. I did, however, pay attention to him on Big Pimpin'. If Jay Z featured them on a song, it meant to me that they had to be worth something.

Since my awareness of him as an MC, Bun B has never disappointed me lyrically. I didn’t dig deep into his discography but I’m always willing to hear a Bun B banger when I can.

In a random discussion about music with some co-workers, I found out that Bun-B's Trill O.G. received 5 mics from The Source.

The first thing about that info that struck me is how little phased I am about the info. Years ago, when I was at the same age as the young man that told us this info, The Source giving an album 5 mics was either cause to celebrate or raise hell. Regardless, any Source mic rating was a conversation piece among peeps.

Next, I was struck by how long it's been since a hip hop album was deemed classic by The Source or any magazine. Not to play the I-told-you-so-card but my critical, nostalgic perspective on hip hop today seemed justified when I heard the info.

Lastly, I was struck because I, like most people that share my point of view, always felt deep inside that Bun-B was an MC capable of delivering a hip hop classic. The day had finally arrived.

Please make yourself familiar with below for more.

Below is a podcast to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

Check out the player below as well as the more recent playlists.

The Suite Delight - 2014- 05-27 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - May 27, 2014 Playlist:

1. Quantic & Anita Tijoux - Doo Wop (That Thing)
2. Sola Rosa - Turn Around Ft. Iva Lamkum (DJ Vadim Remix)
3. The Seatbelts - Cat Blues (Mr. Scruff Remix)
4. James Brown - Funky Drummer
5. The Cactus Channel - Wooden Boy (Part 1)
6. The Roots – Don't Feel Right feat. Maimouna Youssef
7. J Dilla (aka Jay Dee) - Love Movin' feat. Black Thought
8. Nas - It Ain't Hard to Tell
9. Termanology - How We Rock Feat. Bun B
10. Marco Polo - Lay It Down Feat. Roc Marciano
11. Buff1 - Never Fall feat. Black Milk
12. The Extremities - New Season feat. Ohmega Watts & Moka Only
13. Lords Of The Underground - Tic Toc (Remix)
14. Lone Catalysts - The Ultimate (Kev Brown Remix)

Smoothe Da Hustler ‎– Once Upon A Time In America (1996)

During one of my treks to the WFMU Record Fair in the last few years, I found the 12” single to Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigger the Gambler’s Broken Language. 

I had not heard the song since its heyday and was pleased as punch to purchase the hot slice of wax.

I had not played the song on my show until my show with guest DJ Rocambole. 

After dropping the needle, I took to Twitter to announce I was playing the track.

DJ Rocambole went nuts as the drums pounded. It was his first time hearing Broken Language. As for me, that was the kind of microphone-ripping I have loved and missed from hip hop in years. I realized I would want more Smoothe Da Hustler songs to add for future listening.

The timing to have reached for the single could not have been better because I found out Smoothe Da Hustler had more music. Visit here for more and click play below to hear the classic song again if it has been a long time for you too.

Souls of Mischief

Groups like Souls of Mischief intrigued me a lot back in the day. How could all of those MCs sounds so East Coast but come from the same place as DJ Quik and E-40?

Any MC sounding like what I came to know and love as the East Coast sound had me from the opening bars of their track regardless of where they came from.

When I first heard That’s When Ya Lost, I couldn’t wait to know the crew name, where in New York they were from and when their album was going to drop. 

Their vibe was almost as crazy as A Tribe Called Quest's Scenario and I was hooked. Instead, I found out they were down with Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, meaning they were from California. Once I got over that shock, I waited for more tracks to see what else they could do.

On a 1993 school trip to New York & Washington D.C., I bought Souls' Never No More cassette single, along with Gang Starr's Mass Appeal.

In the early 90s, I was crazy for hip hop remixes and still am. Souls of Mischief remixes rank among my most highly sought after. Their That's When Ya Lost 12" sparked my interest in the group and the remix is quite interesting as well. I never owned a copy of that 12" single but always wanted to. Therefore, the fire and desire to obtain more Souls sounds grew.


Word is I missed a hot concert when they performed in Montreal with A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. I don't need rumors or speculation to know that would be a great show. That too probably caused me to seek more Souls afterwards to make up for what I missed that night. I did catch Souls of Mischief at Les Foufounes Electriques years later and got to meet the group members afterwards. 

In the late 90s/early 2000s, I was on a self-imposed hiatus from hip hop but kept an eye and ear open for what was happening. I naturally checked up on the Hieroglyphics' moves and silently supported them from wherever I was perched. From discovering the group to blogging about them years later, it is clear that Souls of Mischief's impact will stay with me until infinity.

Below are some playlists to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

The Suite Delight - 2014-05-13 Playlist:

1. Ice Cube - Check Yo Self (Remix) feat. Das-Efx
2. Kurious - Baby Bust It
3. De La Soul - Breakadawn
4. Gang Starr - Code of the Streets
5. Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost
6. Del - Mistadobalina (Remix)
7. Snoop Dogg - Ain't No Fun (If The Homies Can't Have None)
8. Keith Murray - Incredible feat. LL Cool J
9. Jay-Z - (Always Be My) Sunshine featuring Babyface & Foxy Brown
10. Queen Latifah - Latifah's Had It Up 2 Here
11. The Roots - Adrenaline
12. Poor Righteous Teachers - Rock Dis Funky Joint
13. Digable Planets ‎– 9th Wonder (Blackitolism)
14. Camp Lo - Luchini (This Is It)

The Suite Delight - March 4, 2013 Playlist:

1. Kokolo - Soul Power (Lack Of Afro Remix)
2. Kelis - Trick Me
3. Nickodemus – 2 Sips & Magic (Second Sky & Thomas Blondet Remix)
4. The Souljazz Orchestra - Celestial Blues
5. Fabolous - So Into You feat Tamia
6. DJ Honda - When You Hot, You Hot feat. No I.D. & Dug Infinite
7. Fashawn - LIfe As a Shorty
8. Oh No - Beware feat. Cali Agents
9. Brand Nubian - Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down (Remix) Featuring Diamond D
10. Souls of Mischief - Good Feeling
11. De La Soul - Afro Connections At A Hi 5
12. Moka Only & Chief - Crickets
13. Grand Analog - Take It Slow (Spaces & Places)

The Suite Delight - February 25, 2014 (2) Playlist:

1. Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell (Large Professor Remix)
2. Diverse - Uprock
3. Jay Dee - Pause feat. Frank-N-Dank
4. Strong Arm Steady - Questions
5. Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost (Remix)
6. Soul Khan - Knuckle Puck featuring Koncept, 8thW1 & Homeboy Sandman
7. Quasimoto - Rappcats, Pt. 3
8. Supastition - Yada Yada
9. Murs & 9th Wonder - Murs Day
10. Mobb Deep - Win or Lose
11. Wale - Um'Ricka feat. K'Naan
12. K-Solo - Letterman (Pete Rock Remix)
13. The Extremities - Cold Cheese
14. D-Sisive x Tone Mason – Maybe I Will feat. DJ Grouch

Lykke Li - Youth Novels (2008)

Years ago, I found out about the young singer with an unusual name.

I was not very impressed withYouth Novels after the initial listen but had a feeling there was something to her judging by how often I came across her name.

A colleague told me that her live performances were off the hook.  When the opportunity came to see her at Montreal's Club Soda. I took it in the hopes of learning what was the big deal about Lykke Li.



Both the crowd and myself were anticipating her arrival on stage. I was very eager to experience what was to come. I was not all that familiar with the music and used the crowd reactions to get an understanding of what could be important tracks. Within a short period of time, I went from an observer to a participant and contemplated moving closer to the action.

The crowd was energetic and receptive to Lykke Li. Club Soda seems to provide the ideal climate for performers and audience. Her energy and presence seemed to fuel the crowd. The energy and anticipation was so high that the crowd exploded into applause before the song's end on many occasions.



As mentioned before, certain tracks off her Youth Novels CD created more reaction than others. In the midst of one of the songs, a young lady told me we were grooving to Breaking It Up after I asked her. Complaint Department needed no consultation and caused the most damage upon impact.  

At the end of the show, the crowd naturally wanted an encore and it seemed highly doubtful there would be one. Magically, the four performers returned to the stage for a final number. There was something bittersweet when they took the stage. The bittersweet feeling was expressed in the final song of the night. She and the band did a stripped down cover of A Tribe Called Quest's Can I Kick It. I was touched she returned to the stage and of all songs to cover, she chose that one.