So courtesy of Waxidermy I found these incredible, dark, lonely, and ultimately hilarious drawings by Stefan Glerum and I must say I think they’re brilliant. My pleasure to share. If you like them, drop by the man’s blog and leave him a note.
The Genesis Of This Mix:
I started putting together this mix for the Waxidermy Mix Swap but around the time I was supposed to submit it the actual files went completely ghost from my computer. They hadn’t been deleted, changed or copied - just gone. The sequencing was still intact but the soundbites were empty. Weird shit. Anyway, with the store moving, my apartment moving, my wedding being planned, and all kind of other shit goings on I regretfully withdrew my name from the swap… but I did find the last iteration of the mix before it all went kaput.
The mix sways from dub to jazz to rock to funk to folk to shit I don’t even know what to call it. And, as DJ Evil Dee once wrote, “this album was done on blunted terms.” To say the least.
So roll that shit, light that shit, smoke that shit… sit back and enjoy.
Peace -
Jonny
That’s right homies, custos, friends, lovers, bitches, players, people, people, people…. Good Records NYC is back in effect in a major way. New collections dropping as we speak, all different types of music, 60s soul, free jazz, disco promos, random rap, downtown scene rock, 7″s, LPs… more new product arriving soon as well.
Come through and check it out!
Peas,
Jonny
If your ear is to the street, then you’ve heard it right - Good Records NYC is moving to a new location!
Starting in June, we will be located at 218 East 5th Street, between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue, right at the intersection of The Bowery and 3rd, a stone’s throw from Cooper Square. Near all of the shops, close to the F, 6, N/R trains, and of course the emerging Bowery/Houston scene… really a perfect location.
It has been a great 3 years in our current spot, and to be honest I wish I could stay here forever… but that can’t be the case. So about 6 months ago, I quietly started looking around for a new space. The location we settled on is by far the best of many worlds - expanded space for the shop’s plentiful (and growing) stock, a huge basement to accommodate new collections, a back office for increased productivity and organization… hell, it’s even got a backyard. We might get to Que-in’ back there if we’re lucky!
In the meantime, I’ll be down here at the 3rd Street location boxing records, taking stock and cleaning up. Drop by if you’re in the hood and say what’s up…
Pictures will be coming soon!
It gets greater later-
Jonny
All of that time spent reading the approval matrix while I was on the toilet has not gone to waste!
I was driving around uptown the other day, and my shuffle landed on Mary Lou Williams’ masterpiece, “Black Christ Of The Andes”. Something about the sunshine after a fresh rain, parishioners on their way to church, kids playing, yuppies scurrying towards the train, mothers on their way to the supermarket, and the beautiful old buildings that (thankfully) still dominate the Harlem landscape. For those who have been following this blog I have been trying to document with pictures the diminishing returns of our once-great society… same as how we do with the music I guess, as these buildings get demolished and replaced with shoddily-constructed condos, CapitalOne bank branches, and Starbucks…
I listened to “The Devil” while cruising up and down St. Nicholas and it all felt right. I adore this record and it is a spiritual experience, and if it’s not out-and-out gospel it is nonetheless one of the most intense expressions of faith in music I can think of.
Some people told me at one point Mary Lou williams was possessed; but it’s deeper than all that. From Time Magazine, circa 1964:
“There came a time ten years ago when Mary Lou Williams decided that jazz was the devil’s own music. She was among the best of the bebop pianists, but out on the scene she sensed evil all around her. She could even hear it echo in her playing. One blue night in Paris, “the badness” overwhelmed her; she got up from the piano and quit jazz cold. She drew up a list of names to pray for (urgent cases marked in red), and before long she had an endless coil of sadness, an encyclopedia of bad trouble, a roll of death and dishonor. For years there was nothing for her to do but pray.
“Then she joined the Roman Catholic Church. A priest convinced her that God would be pleased to hear her play once more: music was his greatest gift to her, and music played by a prayerful person, the priest explained, is a kind of prayer….
” ‘I am praying through my fingers when I play,’ she says. ‘I get that good ’soul sound,’ and I try to touch people’s spirits.’
“Down & Out. Her discoveries of both God and the devil in jazz reflect perhaps the troubled state of her own spirit. But even so, she seems to have found her way. With the help of a priest, she has written a jazz hymn to St. Martin de Porres, a mulatto saint of the 17th century, and she is now working on a jazz Mass.”
True indeed, to wit:
“The devil is a woman with a red dress on,
A gleam that flits across a roaming eye -
The devil is a hand that moves along a satin seam,
A softly whispered, sweetly whispered lie.
The devil is a window filled with fancy clothes,
The lips that part and smile and breathe a sigh -
An open door someplace where steps that shouldn’t go there goes,
A word that touched the heart and made it cry.
Where are you gonna run, where do you think you’re gonna hide?
What makes you think you’re slick enough to take old Satan for a ride?
Angel never took a notice that no matter what you do,
Our old friend Mephistopheles gets there just ahead of you…
The devil never rests come day come dusk come dawn,
You compromise and wind up soul-in-palm;
So don’t it strike you funny when you look him in the eye,
The devil looks a lot like you and I.”
Mary Lou Williams - Black Christ Of The Andes
So my mans and them over at The Soul Strut Forums upped this monster from the forthcoming Al Green record on Blue Note with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson producing and playing on it.
I mean it might be a day late for Sunday but it damn sure ain’t nothing short and I am catching the holy ghost with this one. Now if you are like me you were probably skeptical. You might’ve thought this would come out cheesy. But first of all, Al Green has not lost a step. Now I hear you saying, “and we know this, maaaaaaan”. Well check this out, Brother ? f*cking NAILS IT. Does that not sound like Willie Mitchell and the Hi Rhythm section in back? Amazing. Then, as if it couldn’t get any better, Anthony Hamilton, perhaps THEE best soul singer on the scene these days, drops in for backing vocals and a guest verse. If this is any indication we are looking at a new classic here folks.
WOOOOOOOOOO SH*T!!!
For the second installment from Hoody Allen’s lost CD book, we’re gonna go left from where we started and take it to the clubs. Tony Humphries is basically the Genesistm of the Uplifting, Strong vibe that permeates the garage sound. One of the first to introduce Chicago dance records into the NY and NJ clubs…. A sound that combined soul, disco, and house into a new club music for everyone - dancers, players, guidos, thugs, club kids, gay, straight, Black, White, Latino, Asian, or whoever you were.
so check out this classic NY radio moment and be well family…
Alright boys and girls, we have a rare treat for Mixshow Wednesdays…
My mans and them, brother from another mother, rap industry mover and shaker, original real head, simply great collectro and part-time Good Records NYC employee Zvi “Hoody Allen” Edelman left this booklet of CDs behind the counter and was like “yo hold this until like Tuesday and shit.” It took me another couple weeks before I realized what was in there, but now I’ll be damned if he gets it back!
Anyways, long story short, I’m getting it in and have no more time for games. So with no further ado, I present The Propmaster, Mr. Jimbrowski, Kooooool DJ Red Alert on 89.7 KISS fm, live from the golden era, August 1989.
Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaeeaaaaaaaaaahhhh!
D/L (tracks separated): Kool DJ Red Alert, August 1989
Hello friends and family,
Feeling slightly under the weather and tired from several consecutive nights of revelry, I apologize for not updating in a while… I promise to get on my JO this week and poast up some true greatness. In the meantime, I present to you The Brothers And Sisters’ “Dylan’s Gospel” LP. Here, the classic Dylan songbook catches the holy ghost and gets the Sacred Sunday treatment. The Brothers and Sisters are a Los Angeles chorus with some serious star power - the group includes Merry Clayton, Gloria Jones, Clydie King, Jesse Kirkland, and Edna Wright, and is conducted by Barry White-collaborator Gene Page. Brings whole new dimensions to the lyrics, let me tell you! Very enjoyable listen, a constant favorite around the house and the shop. Until next time…
Tagged D/L @ 256: The Brothers And Sisters - Dylan’s Gospel
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