Various - Cumbia Slow - Cumbia Rebajada (diggin' the cumbia - 2010)

01 - rebajada intro

02 - karol y su amor gitano - el llanto de la tortuga

03 - cumbias rebajadas - cumbia de los estados

04 - cumbias instrumentales - cumbia sobre el llano (more pressure)

05 - afrodita - la modelito (the model cover)

06 - babylon motorhome - como cumbia (buenas tardes hip hop)

07 - nelson enriquez - mentirosa (guacharaca)

08 - zurita - piedras para brisas

09 - unknown - track 09

10 - unknown - rebajadas monterrey marquillos colombia

11 - karol y su amor gitano - el maldito acordeon

12 - lizandro meza - martha la reyna (reb)

13 - lito barrientos y su orquesta - cumbia en do menor (norman cook rebajada refix)

14 - unknown - cumbia sampuesana (reb)

15 - skit - los destellos - a patricia

16 - unknown - atlantico

17 - andres landeros - cumbia campesina (reb)

18 - toto la momposina y sus tambores - chambacu

19 - unknown - chambacu (reb)

20 - choppaholix - track 08

21 - alex pasternak - pajariton

Cumbia Rebajada - A weird, yet wonderful sound.

Though I probably have been listening to Cumbia Rebajada songs earlier - my first real introduction to Cumbia Rebajada was through a mix & post on Dr. Aurathef's great „siebethissen“ blog (which unfortunately disappeared from the web). Cumbia Rebajada - or pitched down „remixes“ of Cumbia songs - is a subgenre of cumbia, a phenomenon that was most likely born in Monterrey/Mexico: „Story tells early low-key/ghetto cumbia gigs in Mexico would use really shitty/dysfunctional turntables, not only slowing down but also fluctuating. This launched a genre somehow and kids in Mexico are just all about rebajadas” (Dr. Aurathef) - another version of this story tells that boomboxes at Monterrey block parties would slowly run out of batteries - leaving people to bailar to sloooooooowed down Cumbia songs - an effect which was very much enjoyed and then replicated by slowing the pitch down on purpose in order to create a psychedelic effect. Which apparently may have also duplicated other psychedelic effects the listeners were experiencing likewise. Cumbia Rebajada is really intense stuff - in some way it's been pre-dating „Cumbia Dub“ - another of Cumbias many flowering sub-genres. I really like the dramatic, intense, dark, lo-fi atmosphere & aesthetics of many Rebajadas - the „swollen“ sound of the accordion and the guacharaca. The “hot potato” effect on the singing - sometimes to such an extend that the lyrics are barely recognizable, becoming a new & different language. A song perfectly matching this description would be track #10 „Unknown - Rebajadas Monterrey Marquillos Colombia“. Deep deep deep stuff for ya listening pleasure! Now hit the download & burn this one on CD, put it into your stereo and enjoy an long & deep 80 minute Rebajada Cumbia ride. Just some of many favourites! Not all tunes are "strictly" Rebajada, but all tunes are kinda reflecting the slow and psychedelic side of Cumbia! DubMe

PS: This compilation fits perfectly on one CD - just click "NO PAUSE BETWEEN TRACKS" when you are going to burn it - and the CD will be exactly 79:59 long...

Beatz & Carrots #4 (January 2012)

Here finally is my January 2012 Beatz & Carrots #4 compilation. Some good songs in here, old and new. And it also flows quite nicely when you listen to the compilation in its entirety. Beatz & Carrots #5 is already compiled as well. Just need to write a few lines, upload it – and it should then be shared on this blog within the next few days. Until then – keep yourself busy with this tracklist:

01 - dedy dread - go miller

02 - sono rhizmo' - mambocito mio

03 - benny berigan - caravan

04 - little walter - up the line

05 - restless leg syndrome - hornrace

06 - nynfus corp. - yetti

07 - le grand orchestre de paul mauriat - vole, vole farandole

08 - tenoshi - monsta monche (tenoshi version)

09 - phyllis dillon - perfidia

10 - unknown - cumbia (soundcloud)

11 - stretch - why did you do it

12 - the electric sideshow soundsystem - give me your number

13 - culture - we a boss

14 - the soul session - root down

15 - discotech - the boss

16 - brooklyn shanti - rani rani

17 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (desert intro)

18 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (horse with no name)

19 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (out of the rain)

20 - ahmad zahir - che kelaf sar zad az mah

21 - dj catalist - everybody

22 - pan di-hua - midnight kiss

Giving some credits to all the artists and musicians out there who are enriching our lifes with grooves, musical sunshine and love everyday – The first song is Go Miller by Dedy Dread, which he shared as a little Christmas gift on his soundcloud page last year. Beautiful song – which seems to get better every time I listen to it. The intro is one of the best out there: "Hello and Greetings to all those Punks out there... 'coz I am the King of the Punks (What kind of records to you play for your own pleasure – as it were?) Generally I play Soul music, Jazz music, I love Calypso music. I love all type of music (inaudible). Generally listening to Jazz..." - "Generally listening to Jazz"... Ahhh! That line kills it for me. Beautiful! „Mambocito Mio“ - the second song is a tasty beefed up Latin/Mambo Groover by Sono Rhizmo'. That song got released on Resense records (# 004) back in 2007. But somehow I missed it. Resense records, which seems to be a sub-label (!?) of the equally great Agogo Records (check them out on soundcloud) is one of the top labels out there releasing groovy, funky, swinging, soulful music with all of our favorite artists out there! The third song Caravan by Benny Berigan is a brilliant take on the Jazz standard "Caravan", originally composed by Juan Tizol and first performed by Duke Ellington in 1937. That song (and its various covers) has always been a favorite of mine – and Benny Berigan definitely adds his own twist to it - making it a dirty whirling desert groover – or as someone on soundcloud put it "I feel like Alibaba traveling the desert at night!" - Jaaa! The next song "Up The Line" by Little Walter from 1963 was another surprice find. What a groover. While I was listening to this compilation a few times I caught myself wondering "What song is that?!" - having as much swing and raw power as Brenda Boykin's Hard Swing Travellin' Man – only to find out every time that it is that Little Walter song way back from 1963. Song #5 keeps the groove and the swing – going Cumbia: Restless Leg Syndrome – Hornrace and their version of "Cumbia en do menor" by Lito Barrientos – one of my Top 10 Cumbia songs of all time: heavy percussion, stomping horns, tropical madness! You can download the whole EP "name your price" on their bandcamp site. The remaining 17 songs are equally great and eclectic – but I now ought to do some more compiling - finish compiling questions for a survey on "Vegetarianism in China" which I need for my thesis.

The "cover" or rather image I shared with this compilation is a picture of a German "Sex" record called "St Pauli Nachrichten" on the Porno Records label (St Pauli being the Red Light District of Hamburg) which I bought many many years ago when I "got into" collecting "sex records". I can still remember when a friend first told me that he, beside collecting Exotica and Incredibly Strange Music records, also collects sex records. I was like "eh?!" - what are Sex records? Well, basically in the 50, 60 and 70... until we had Super 8mm film and video cassettes more generally available – records where still the format of the day – and so "Porn" was sold on record to some degree. I assume. It was a huge surprise when I first heard dialogues like "F##k me harder" on a German record from the 60ies. Don't know – maybe I was under the impression that people back then didn't have Sex or whatever... After this first "introduction" I surrendered myself to the mission of finding all these Sex records. And it was no easy task finding the real ones – or could you imagine your grandmother going to a second hand record shop saying "I here have some old records which me and my husband bought in the 60ies". But over the course of the years I found some records which were incredibly great and funny: sex plays with hilarious dialogues (who wrote them?!), 60 minutes of moaning over some African percussion, a record with just the sounds of a squeaking creaking bed, a porn version of Kafka's "The Trial" - which was so kafkaesque that I wanted to trash it after listening to it the first and only time... bahh! And records which just had great covers or other gimmicks – like the one I used for this post. Stay tuned and find out how the amazing 4x gatefold cover of this record opens up and reveals a secret place during the next few Beatz & Carrots posts...

DubMe

Beatz & Carrots #3 (December 2011)

01 - the last minister - tribute to jb family

02 - odyssey - going back to my roots

03 - xl - take 5 (kool summer mix)

04 - krystian shek - got soul (poldoore remix)

05 - lord echo - things i like to do

06 - mr president - left and right

07 - marcia griffiths - feel like jumping (daytoner edit)

08 - mishkin - free

09 - the legendary 1979 orchestra - sunny

10 - jimmy hughes - i'm a man of action

11 - k - back to basics feat elaine dowling (original mix)

12 - little roy - come as you are

13 - circle research - stop look listen to your heart

14 - dj dus - cuando lo negro sea bello

15 - la playa sextet - pachanga con la playa (hobo d reedit)

16 - johnny clarke - johnny judgment (kid gusto edit)

17 - the bombay royale - sote sote

18 - volfoniq - balkan banghra

19 - merlin shepherd - pass the kasha (streamerpilot unkosher mix)

Hi everyone! Its been a long time I haven't updated my blog. To be exact: 2 months. Sorry about that. The last three weeks of December I was busy writing finals at University, which didn't leave me with enough time to take care of the blog or even compile some fresh compilations. On December 29th I then flew from Chengdu/China to Chiang Mai/Thailand - seeing my dentist there - and then having a 6 week long holiday – traveling Thailand and Malaysia, visiting friends, eating good food, lots of blue sky, sunshine and new inspirations! While trying to escape the afternoon heat on a little tropical island in the deep south of Thailand for a few hours, I tried to update my blog – but my blog was all in Thai, making it impossible to leave a little message ;-) But now I am back again. Gotta start writing my thesis these days – and then in June this year I hopefully should have earned myself a little degree – not that I am really planing to use it - but at least my parents & grandparents should be happy. I rather hope to be a natural gardener some day, working with my hands while listening to music...

Talking about music – here is my fresh selection of December favorites. As always – eclecticism is the name of the game. Starting with the very funky and groovy „Tribute to JB Family“ by The Last Minister, which was released on the Italian label Irma Records back in 1992 - which makes me wonder how I could have missed this song for so long! Well prepare yourself for 6:19 minute long tour de funk with a bit of a dirty house touch. The next song - keeps the groove - but gets a little more soulful with a nice version of „Going back to my Roots“ by Odyssey. Two other versions of this song I like are Richie Havens cover - and the original by Lamont Dozier. The 3rd song almost gets a little cheesy, having a strong 80ies Jazz feeling – but somehow I dig it! And with a song versioning Dave Brubeck's „Take 5“ one usually can't go too wrong. Track #7 is a very nice edit by Mr Daytoner from Cornwall, England of Marcia Griffiths „Feel Like Jumping“ - if you ask me – pure dancefloor gold! This is what Mr Daytoner had to say about this edit: „...We'll take you back to the very beginning' - this is the first edit I ever made for DJ sets (a few years ago now) - a basic edit of Marcia Griffiths classic from 1968 with just a break & a couple of samples extended over the fade to ensure regular use in sets (also used it for the opening track on the Daytoner Radio Debut mix)“. Track #9 is a great deep discoish cover of „Sunny“ by the mysterious DJ and producer „The Legendary 1979 Orchestra“ from Romania. The song „Sunny“, originally sung and written by Bobby Hebb in 1963 (and its countless versions) has always been a favorite of mine. That song even got me a date! Some 10 years ago, while I was working in a second-hand book and record shop in Germany, I remember one day a nice lady was entering the shop, catching my attention. And the minute I played that song she gave me a sweet smile. La Playa Sextet - Pachanga Con La Playa (Hobo D Reedit) - track #15 is a bouncing cumbiaish reedit by Hobo D. Really nice. But unfortunately he hasn't been updating his soundcloud page for ages. Hopefully he reads my blog and shares some more edits soon :) I'm ending this compilation with some Indian and Balkan sounds: Track # 17, which is „Sote Sote“ by The Bombay Royale – a fast drivin' funky rocky something song with some crazy crazy crazy Moog like only dem Indians can play it ;-) Track #18 is called „Balkan Banghra“ by Volfoniq - and it definitely got fire! Nice song mixing Balkan elements with Indian Banghra and some dirty electronics! Check out Volfoniq and the rest of the album „Ernest“– which they kindly share for free on their website. 

Enjoy! DubMe

P.S.: While I have been away travelling it seems that not only in China they have been busy blocking websites – but also in „The West“. Some blogs I have been following for ages have been taken down – among them the wonderful „Holywarbles“ music blog which has drawn my attention to a many wonderful albums! Well I hope „Holywarbles“ comes back – stronger than before - „Freedom of discovery on the web!“ And I am not sure if my multiupload.com links are still working. At least I can't open Multiupload in China anymore. Please let me know if you can still access my DL links. If not, I will be happy to replace them with working ones...

Beatz & Carrots (October 2011)

                                                                                          (Original Cover Artwork taken from the great album "EL GRAN DUELO" by Akshin Alizadeh)

Here is my first compilation – "Beatz & Carrots“ from October 2011. Check the tracklist:

01 - raphael gualazzi - reality and fantasy (gilles peterson remix)

02 - rude hi-fi - cybercuba

03 - agape ft nadia harris - she really likes it

04 - quantic y su conjunto los mitcos del ritmo - nuthin' but a 'g' thing (dre en cumbia)

05 - turntables dubbers - get lively now (dreadsquad rmx)

06 - charlie winston - in your hands

07 - the breakbeat junkie vs djp - got what it takes (kurtis blow - the breaks)

08 - donny hathaway - the ghetto (suonho reloved)

09 - sam & dave - soul man (dj twister edit)

10 - maylee todd & circle research - hooked

11 - afrobuddha meets kakatsitsi drummers - obame (radio mix)

12 - petrona martinez - aroro (nate mars remix)

13 - quantic - cumbia clash

14 - faraon bantu soundsystem - macaco mata el toro (batata remix ft novalima)

15 - jmmy 'bo' horne - spank (reremaster)

16 - sun sect ft pam - shes hot

17 - red astaire - follow me

18 - slim gaillard - fuck off

There a quite a few upbeat/uptempo songs in this „beatz & carrots“ selection – probably because I have selected them from a more dj/dancefloor orientated angle this time. Most songs either seem to be disco/boogie/edit/soulful grooves/breakbeats or cumbia/latin/world sounds. Two fresh cumbia songs by „Mister“ Quantic my ever favourite dj/producer/musician: „Cumbia Clash“ by Quantic sounds like a dubby Cumbia Mash-Up like probably King Jammy would have mixed it ina de 80ies Digital Reggae Style – KILLER STUFF. Wait for the nasty bass to come in! „Cybercuba“ by Rude Hi-Fi is another beautiful Cumbia gem I only discovered on Soundcloud a week ago. Check out Rude Hi-Fi's Soundcloud page – the man is sharing/producing some serious music! Another Soundcloud find was „Agape ft Nadia Harris - She really likes it“ - let me quote the track description from Soundcloud: „Funk, soul, ska, drum and bass and Brazilian come together in this sultry hot little number to create a mood that is fun and up-tempo.“ Yes! And a voice that sounds like Sister Nancy's little sister! Nate Mars remix of „Petrona Martinez - Aroro“ was another big big monthly favourite. The bass and those powerful voice of Petrona Martinez is just killin' me! Mars places Martinez's vocals in the middle of spacey synths, tropical percussion sounds with a rolling bassline that comes and goes. Interesting information on the side - Petrona Martinez from Colombia didn't really start her music career until 2002 at the age of 63 (she made her money collecting sand for brick making prior to then), but continues to sing and perform now moving into her seventies. Well - I hope you enjoy some of these songs as much as I do... If you do, please leave a comment - its always rewarding to hear what fellow music lovers and addicts say - especially if you live in China - a blank spot on the world-map of music...

PS: Usually when I make these "compilations" of favourite songs - I try to put them in a certain order so there is a certain flow, mixing the songs without actually mixing them (so that you still have the unmixed song to make your own mixes/compilations ;-). This compilation fits perfectly on one CD – just click "NO PAUSE BETWEEN TRACKS" - and the CD will be exactly 79:40 long – so burn it & share some good vibes with friends & family...

Peace; Dubme