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Friday, Aug 25 2023, 7PM
Dance-worthy sets of beats, rock, global and soulful. Kicking off our Instruments series tonight with a spotlight on Drummers! Hellos and suggestions to dj@kexp.org and @djmichelemyers.
The title track from the first LP from Toots & the Maytals, this album features memorable tracks such as "Pomp and Pride", "Pressure Drop", and a really wild cover of Richard Berry's "Louie, Louie"!
Originally recorded by a Jamaican vocal group called The Paragons, this song finds Blondie trading in their rougher sounds of earlier albums like their self-titled album "Blondie" for the glossy, almost synthetic sounds of "The Tide is High".
Sampling Blondie ra.co
When asked about her DJing style: "My style is very sexy and funky and bouncy. It’s like me in music form. The only thing I don’t like is when things get predictable… other than that, I’m down with any genre."
djlifemag.com
Natasja Saad, also known as Little T, was a Danish reggae, dancehall, and hip-hop star who began performing at an early age, singing and doing DJ appearances. Soon afterwards, she released some of her first solo work, which led to the release of her first solo full-length "Release" in 2005.
www.allmusic.com
Developing his streetwise mix of vintage and modern R&B styles for nearly a decade, BJ the Chicago Kid continues to showcase his talents with work featuring artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, and Solange.
www.bjtck.com
Based in Bucharest, Paul Damixie has been cutting danceable beats with popular tracks for quite some time now with such remixes of popular tracks like "Clint Eastwood" and Sofi Tukker's "Purple Hat"!
pauldamixie.bandcamp.com
Founded by composers/songwriters Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian (who first came together via Craigslist!), Capital Cities have been releasing memorable electro pop hits for over ten years now, most recently releasing their sophomore full-length "Solarize" in 2018.
Combining folk, dance, pop, and R&B into emotional yet danceable hits, Maggie Rogers just released her joyously anthemic full-length album "Surrender" last year!
www.maggierogers.com
UK duo. Sampling Boz Scaggs. www.disclosureofficial.com
Originally recorded and released in 1968. Written by Mike d'Abo (lead vocalist for Manfred Mann), Tony Macaulay and released with Colin Young singing lead vocals.
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Moe Tucker is the drummer in this landmark psychedelic band. This is my fave VU record, a good starting point if you're looking to get to know this band. www.velvetundergroundmusic.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. James Brown drummer Clyde Stubblefield!
Responsible for laying down some of the funkiest beats for some of James Brown's biggest 60's hits such as "Mother Popcorn", "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)", and "Funky Drummer", his work on the song "Funky Drummer" would end up being used so often in the years following that he earned the unofficial title of "World's Most Sampled Drummer"!
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Local drummer David McGraw!
Playing Seattle Center Sept 2! www.truelovesband.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Drummer Leah Shapiro!
Leah Shapiro when not drumming for Black Rebel Motorcyle Club, can be found composing music for such television shows as "Peaky Blinders"!
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Nigerian icon Babatunde Olatunji!
Babatunde Olatunji gained international fame beginning in the 50's with his groundbreaking 1959 Capitol Records debut album "Drums of Passion"!
On the subject of drumming and rhythm: "I am the drum, you are the drum, and we are the drum. Because the whole world revolves in rhythm, and rhythm is the soul of life, for everything that we do in life is in rhythm."
Covering Tito Puente. Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Local drummer Michael Shrieve!!! www.santana.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series.
From her humble beginnings as a percussionist on albums by Alphonso Johnson and Merl Saunders to her 1984 breakthrough "The Glamorous Life, Sheila E. has been involved in music from an early age, having been surrounded by such musical luminaries as her father Pete Escovedo and uncle Alejandro Escovedo!
sheilae.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. PNW drummer Janet Weiss.
www.sleater-kinney.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. Drummer Meg White! www.whitestripes.com
Spotlight on Drummers for our Instruments series. The Roots drummer Questlove!
Multi-hyphenate and member of the Grammy-award winning group The Roots, Questlove has been making popular hits and soundtracks for going on nearly 30 years!
Jorja Smith's heartfelt and streetwise R&B has drawn such comparisons to the works of Rihanna and Amy Winehouse, the latter of which she cities as her biggest influence!
www.jorjasmith.com
"Cinérama", the debut album from Julia Jean-Baptiste, is described as both a "restless, fiery, and joyful river" and as a "invitation to languid destinations and festive swaying"!
According to Julia: "Cinérama paints the panorama of my emotions, a common thread that links all the songs."
juliajeanbaptiste.bandcamp.com
Ari Lennox and Anthony Ramos released a recreation of this classic Sly and the Family Stone song during the ongoing pandemic to support live venue relief. www.mainstreetalliance.org
One of the most commercially successful pop groups of the 1970's, ABBA influenced the sound of pop for decades to come with such popular hits as "Waterloo", of which garnered them their first Swedish win at Eurovision in 1974!
Channeling influences such as Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday to craft jazzy numbers that are elevated by her powerful voice and poetic lyrics, Celeste just released a new single last March entitled "To Love a Man"!
www.celesteofficial.com
From the album "Isolation", "After the Storm" finds Kali Uchis teaming up with Tyler, the Creator, and the legendary Bootsy Collins to create an extremely catchy dance number!
www.kaliuchis.com
Originally sung by Harry Nilsson on his landmark album "Nilsson Schmilsson", this track finds James Murphy and Co. covering Nilsson's track to a very memorable and delirious ending complete with a much-lauded drum solo!
Canadian artist. tepno.bandcamp.com
From the self-released album "A Summer Gone"!
The last song written by founding member Vince Clark for Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke would go on to create memorable music with such bands as Erasure and Yazoo (known as Yaz in the US).
Request. www.depechemode.com
Known for mixing the styles of prog, metal, new wave, and indie with their vintage funk, disco, and house foundations, Justice has been creating memorable dance numbers since their Grammy-nominated single "D.A.N.C.E." from the unforgettable album "† (aka Cross)".
justice.church
9:18 PM
189th spin
"Turntables" is Janelle Monae's song for the film "All In: The Fight for Democracy," a documentary about Georgia political activist Stacey Abrams. “I think the film, All In: The Fight for Democracy speaks truth to power,” Monae says. “It talks about the real harsh truth of voter suppression, and what it has done to Black and brown, poor folks in this country for so many decades… when the whole world got to testify, that was the people going to the polls.”
www.jmonae.com
Sarah Vaughan has won 4 Grammys including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Verve Remixed is one of my favorite series, where contemporary DJs and Producers rework tracks from the Verve vault. www.biography.com
Widely known for being proponents of the big-beat style of dance music, the Propellerheads achieved almost overnight success with their brand of party techno, which combines multiple genres such as hip-hop, acid house, jazz-funk, and spy-film soundtracks!
www.allmusic.com
Christine and the Queens' passionate electro-pop thoughtfully approaches gender, sexuality, and identity throughout their musical output, channeling such performers as Laurie Anderson in the process!
www.christineandthequeens.com
Grammy-award winning progressive R&B artist known for collaborating with such producers as Jeff Bhasker, Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio fame!), Salaam Remi, and Raphael Saadiq, Miguel has continued to create breakthrough R&B/hip-hop singles such "All I Want Is You" and "Adorn", the latter of which won him a Grammy!
www.officialmiguel.com
Over a long and storied career, !!! (pronounced "chk-chk-chk") have created some of the most tightly wound dance-punk songs that walk the line between disco and punk.
From their memorable debut single "Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)" to their memorable turn into disco and Afro-beat with 2013's "Thr!!!ler", !!! have shown no signs of simply resting on their laurels.
chkchkchk.net
The undisputed Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin was one of the giants of soul music and of American pop as a whole. Epitomizing soul at its most gospel-charged, her amazing run of late-60's hits with Atlantic Records -- "Respect", "I Never Loved A Man", "Chain of Fools", among many others -- earned her the title of Queen of Soul.
arethafranklin.net
Originating their sound with influences of old-school R&B, Fitz & the Tantrums' self-titled third album found them embracing a slick, contemporary dance-pop style!
Request.
www.fitzandthetantrums.com
Influenced by artists as diverse as Daft Punk and Portishead, DJ Ardalan has been creating hypnotic house beats packed with deep bass and snappy kicks since his first big track -- a collaboration with Justin Martin entitled "Mr. Spock"!
Little Simz plays Thu Sep 28 at Showbox Sodo. www.littlesimz.com
Brighton artist Celeste creates powerful vocals and poetic lyrics,
www.celesteofficial.com