Burned My Oven Mitts Get Some Polysporin

Here I go gummin' 'bout Sammy P and a new book of photos finds its way to my door. Comes with an accompanying EP of electronic tracks that burn. Order from Press pop dot com.

Get Yr Ovenmitts Here's Some Heatrocks

I. Startin' From the Middle Ground
It's not like it was the first mix CD, or even the best, but there was something about Andy Smith's first Document mix that seemed to grab everyone. It was probably the first time I'd heard kitsch (Tom Jones) so obviously paired and emphasized within a mix without it seeming jokey, and probably the first time I'd ever seen a cover of a dj set (Smith covers the venerable "Wheels of Steel" set). When Smith played the Republik later that summer, dropping "St. Peppers" into his set seemed revelatory; few djs in Calgary up to that point would drop something so glaringly outside of the normal rare groove/hip hop/acid jazz set (though most obviously could have, it just didn't seem to happen). Now it'd be weird without it.

Jay used to play the hell out of the Spencer Davis segue into Love Unlimited from this mix, but the Jungle Brothers/Jeru intro grabbed me to no end.

Jungle Brothers - "How Ya Want It We Got It" (Native Tongues remix): Oh yeah! Of the three Native Tongue heavyweights, the Jungle Brothers just don't generate the same excitement. De La's rhymes are perhaps more catchy, and Tribe's beats perhaps more influential, and thus the Jungle Brothers nestled in third. This track came well after the Native Tongues had lost their collegiate charm, but man, is it still comforting to hear them on one track.


De La Soul - "Intro" (from Stakes is High): The Jungle Brothers track always reminded me of this De La song, which I prefer. It's the first time that De La had sounded so bleak and weary to me, and the intro emphasized this the most.


Jeru the Damaja - "Come Clean" (from the Sun Rises in the East): I'm not sure what the beef with the Fugees was all about (none of them seem to have fared very well, outside of Wyclef's obvious commercial success), and the falling out with Primo didn't seem to help. For what it's worth, I really liked "Black Cowboys."


II. From Way Out
I'm digging on the new electro stuff coming out; in particular, the Flying Lotus tracks I've heard grab me. It makes perfect sense that it finds a home on Warp, though I prefer it to the mainstays of that label (Boards of Canada, Autechre, etc), mostly because, at the time Warp had glutted in excess, the records seemed largely exercises in output.

Flying Lotus - "Dance Floor Stalker": I guess this guy comes from the Coltrane lineage. It's not overly apparent, in that I don't get overwhelmed the same way. But it rumbles the kidneys, which is good.


Sam Prekop - "Sewing Machine": The Flying Lotus track also reminded me a lot of this early solo Prekop track that found its way onto the Two Gentlemen EP. At the time, I had anticipated Prekop's first solo album to be more of the electronic stuff, rather than how organic it actually came out to be (it's all good). Prekop's fun with samplers carries over onto the S&C track on the Reach the Rock soundtrack.


III. And Back To the Front...

Love Unlimited Orchestra - "Theme from the Together Brothers": The track that appears on the Andy Smith mix is from the Together Brothers soundtrack, which seems to be harder to find than not (the Love Unlimited releases always seem less ubiquitous than the Barry White albums, for whatever reason). But the title theme itself shows up regularly on various compilations, best-ofs, etc., and is just as r-e-d-h-o-t.


Ohmega Watts - "The Platypus Strut": How does Ohmega Watts go unnoticed? Dude's albums have been so heavy they're giving me a hernia tear in the sack-ro-ill-iac. The new album, Watts Happening, is no disappointment, and this track is just ass-boggling.