r & b – Synecdoche

Weekly Mix 16: April 23, 2017

On today’s show we’ll chat with Ned Raggett about the art of writing album reviews. Ned has been published in AllMusic, The Quietus, Pitchfork and many other fine publications. While I’ve been a deejay and a podcaster for several decades, I’ve only done the odd album review. If I’m going to do The Weekly Mix properly, I need to hone my skills at album reviews and who better to learn from than a master like Ned Raggett?

I’ve known Ned online for quiet a while and discovered him through my friend Steve Howard’s Facebook feed. I’ve always been impressed with his insightful album reviews as well as his political commentary. When I launched the Pop Culture Intelligentsia podcast I invited him to become a co-host because I respect his skill as a wordsmith and I knew he’d really add to the roundtable. Due to Ned’s busy schedule he rarely appears on the show but when he does he delivers the goods. The best example I can give was when Ned came on Pop Culture Intelligentsia to review Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly album.

I’m out of here. See you next week!

Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy “INS Greencard A-19 191 500”
Kendrick Lamar “DNA.”
Beyoncé “Formation”
Ravyn Lenae “Free Room (feat. Appleby)”
18scales “Wayout”
Lizzo “Coconut Oil”
Kadhja Bonet “Fairweather Friend”

Weekly Mix 14: April 9, 2017

I’m really excited about today’s show because it’s a great way wind down after a busy week. As I mentioned on the last show, last week my girl friend and I drove up to Los Angeles from San Diego to catch a rare performance by The Firesign Theater. A few days later I drove back up to Los Angeles to get fitted for a tailor made suit from Indochino for my brother’s wedding next month. There’s a good chance you heard about Indohchino on another podcast. At least that’s how I heard about them. I could have given Indohchino my measurements online but I wanted to be measured by an actual human being. I have to admit, I was impressed by Indohchino and now that they have my measurements I’ll order more clothing from them in the future. I’ll post a photo of the suit in a couple of weeks on my blog.

Last night my girl friend and my boy drove back up to Los Angeles again for the opening of a friend Mark Casillas’ new office. The name of his studio is Warm & Fuzzy and he and his partners do visual effects and animation for commericals, TV shows and movies like The Avengers and Star Wars. The party was great! There were food trucks, a bouncy castle, a deejay and lot of fun and interesting people to meet. You know, I used to hate Los Angeles but the more I go there the more I love. Except the traffic. I hate the traffic.

And today we took the kids to the Fleet Science Center in San Diego and then I took the kids and our dog to the beach. So, yeah, a busy weekend.

Click the links below to purchase and download the songs you liked from today’s show. You can spare a few dollars and you’ll be helping out the bands and musicians who are pouring out their hearts to touch you.

If you enjoy The Weekly Mix, share it with a friend. I’m looking at you, Ben. I know you like last week’s show.

Okay, time for me to amscray. Enjoy the show. I’ll see you next week!

Swet Shop Boys “T5”
Futuro Pelo “Swamp”
Frankie Reyes “Noche de Ronda”
Sampha “Plastic 100°C”
Yoni & Geti “Lunchline”
Little Scream “Love as a Weapon”
Hite “Light”

Weekly Mix 13: April 2, 2017

Before we got to today’s show I want to welcome Blumenkraft from the pnut social media platform to the show. I actually know Blumenkraft from App.Net, which was a great social media platform that was ad free but unforutnately shut down last month. Anyway, I promoted my recent show on Pnut and Blumenkraft really enjoyed it and went back to download prevous episodes of The Weekly Mix. Blumenkraft, if you’re listening, welcome aboard and I hope you dig today’s show.

The other thing I wanted to chat about is the trip my girlfriend and I made to Los Angeles last Thursday to see The Firesign Theatre. You probably don’t know who they are but they are extremely important to me. The Firesign Theatre was a comedy group from the 60s who recorded these really complex concept albums. When I was a boy, about four years old, my dad would play them all the time. The Firesign Theatre had a lot of TV and radio commercial skits that confused me because at that age I was still struggling to distinguish reality from fantasy. They sounded like commercials but I knew something was not quite right. The Firesign Theatre shaped my own sense of humor and when I got into radio I would insert bits from their albums into my shows.

Last Wednesday I was talking to my friend Taylor about working on another show I produce called Pop Culture Intelligentsia. We were catching up with each other when he mentioned that he was going to provide sound effect for a life performance from The Firesign Theatre. Taylor only had a vague idea who they were and cetainly had no idea how important those guys are to me. I asked Taylor if he could get me into the show because those guys are senior citizens now, in fact, there are only two members still alive. I’d regret it if I didn’t see them. Taylor was kind enough to get me into the show and I even got to ask Phil Proctor, one of the founding members a question!

Okay, enough out of me. Enjoy today’s show.

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweat “I Need Never Get Old”
Shirley Bassey “Spinning Wheel”
Portugal. The Man “Feel It Still”
Lauren Sanderson “Alotta Me”
Yaeji “New York 93”
Naadei “Not Nice”
o k h o “Hey The House Is On Fire”