funk – Listen To This

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 68: Summer Disco Special

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is one of my favorite yearly traditions, the summer disco special. Because summer is meant for twirling! Featuring a few of my favorite Paradise Garage-style longform bangers, a few more spacey and cosmic tracks, and (in my opionion) a very tasteful Latin closer. I hope you like it, and that June is treating you well. You can download an mp3 version here.

Previous summer disco specials: 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

Tracklist:
1. Aurra – When I Come Home (Larry Levan 12” Mix)
2. Dan Hartman & Loleatta Holloway – Relight My Fire (12″ Disco Remix)
3. Ecstasy, Passion & Pain – Ask Me
4. Skyy – Here’s to You (12″ Version)
5. Taste of Honey – Sukiyaki
6. First Choice – Let No Man Put Asunder (Shep Pettibone 12″ Mix) / The Player
7. Odyssey – Native New Yorker (12″ Disco Mix)
8. Stephanie Mills – Put Your Body In It (12″ Version)
9. Dee D. Jackson – Automatic Lover (Long Version)
10. A La Carte – Price Of Love
11. Sergio Mendes and the New Brasil ’77 – The Real Thing

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 54

Here’s my most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. I wanted it to be an over-the-top shot of dopamine, songs that make me feel euphoric and credits-rolling optimistic. I’ve been trying to be a little bit more adventurous in combining genres and decades, so there are some odd transitions in here–hopefully they make you feel good as they do for me. I’m very pleased to say that this episode gave Jessica Simpson her first ever airtime on NTS. Happy spring–I hope you and your loved ones have all gotten vaccinated and that the world feels a little brighter. You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. Jun Miyake – Relaxn’
2. Jessica Simpson – I Think I’m In Love With You
3. Ahmed Fakroun – Nisyan (Edit)
4. Renée Geyer – Be There In The Morning
5. Blondie – Sunday Girl
6. Throwing Muses – Not Too Soon
7. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – C’mon Marianne
8. Bananarama – Shy Boy
9. The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again
10. Forrest – Rock The Boat
11. Plustwo – Melody
12. Brandy – Top of the World ft. Mase
13. Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This ft. Dusty Springfield
14. Ryuichi Sakamoto – You Do Me
15. Mr. Twin Sister – Expressions
16. George McCrae – Rock Your Baby
17. Jon Secada – Just Another Day

Isabelle Antena – Hoping For Love, 1987

One of my favorites, so much so that I’m confused why I haven’t posted this already. If you’re unfamiliar, Isabelle Antena is a French pop and jazz musician and composer, who began making music with her band Antena (whose highly influential Camino del Sol was one of the first records I ever posted here!). She went on to be a highly prolific solo artist, gaining a huge following in Japan–which makes sense aesthetically, as I think her sound very much anticipated Shibuya-kei. In fact, I grew up listening to Isabelle Antena because my dad heard the maddening “Quand Le Jazz Entre En Lice” in a hair salon in Tokyo, where my family was living at the time, and took it home to my mom, who got hooked on it. A lot of her live performances on YouTube were shot in Japan, like this particular gem.

Hoping For Love is jazzier than its excellent predecessor, En Cavale, but it has all the prowess you’d expect from Isabelle Antena, who wrote, arranged, and produced this record. Here she flits easily between Latin, samba, bossa nova, funk, and synth pop, with a few of her signature bass-driven dance floor twirlers like “Laying On The Sofa” and “Sweet Boy,” the latter of which I often catch myself singing to my dog. While it’s still strongly reminiscent of contemporaries like Sade and Linda di Franco, it’s fully her own world, spending most of the record’s second half squarely in the realm of acoustic jazz to terrific effects. Such a special, masterful record–I hope you love it as much as I do.

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[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 46: Summer Disco Special III

Here’s my newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. In keeping with tradition, it’s a disco special made with summer in mind. I have a confusing relationship with joy at the moment, feeling as alienated and scared as I imagine many people do, so I can’t help but feel a little bittersweet about listening to disco: it’s the most joyful music I know of, but it reminds me so much of how badly I miss dancing with large groups of people. I miss the way living in a city used to present you really magical opportunities to commune with strangers, and the cathartic joy that only a long night of dancing to the best music in the world can provide. I miss so many things. I hope this mix brings you some form of joy, and in the meantime that we have songs to tide us over until we’re able to dance together again. You can download an mp3 version here. Thank you as always for listening!

Tracklist:
1. Sandy Barber – I Think I’ll Do Some Stepping (On My Own)
2. Barbara Mason – Don’t I Ever Cross Your Mind Sometime
3. Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Running Away
4. Margaret Singana – Why Did You Do It
5. Charo & The Salsoul Orchestra – Dance A Little Bit Closer
6. Raw Silk – Do It To The Music
7. Sirarcusa – Streap Tease In The Stars (The Way I Do)
8. Dynasty – I Don’t Want To Be A Freak (But I Can’t Help Myself)
9. The Gap Band – Outstanding
10. Beauregard, Violletti & Ste-Claire – Ce Soir (Je Sens Que Tout Peut M’Arriver)
11. Ben E. King – Made For Each Other
12. Trio Ternura – A Gira
13. Theo Vaness – No Romance Keep On Dancing

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 35: Summer Disco Special II

Hi! I’m still here, and still missing sharing music. The good news is that I just quit my day job to focus on food full time (scary, but cool!), and my plan is to continue blogging regularly once I’ve figured out how this whole new life format works. In the mean time, here’s my latest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. It’s full of what I want to listen to in the summer time: classic disco, funk, and soul. I hope you get a chance to listen to it en route to the beach, or at a barbecue, or that at the very least it makes you bop your head around a bit. You can download an mp3 version of it here. See you soon, thanks for being here 💙

Tracklist:
1. Jocelyn Brown – Somebody Else’s Guy
2. Melba Moore – Standing Right Here
3. Loose Joints – Tell You (Today) (Original 12” Vocal)
4. Bonnie Pointer – Free Me From My Freedom
5. Patrice Rushen – Never Gonna Give You Up (Joey Negro Re-Grooved Mix)
6. Family Of Eve – Having It So Bad For You
7. Phreek – May My Love Be With You
8. First Choice – Love Thang
9. Sybil Thomas – Rescue Me
10. Rose Laurens – American Love
11. Keiichi Oku – Heat Wave
12. Nile Rodgers – My Love Song For You

25 Favorite Releases of 2018

In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share some of my favorite releases of the year. Such a nuts year for music, with huge leaps of brilliance happening in so many radically different genres! Obviously this isn’t meant to be exhaustive or authoritative; just some personal highlights. Quite a few of these are giant major label releases, so I’ll be taking down those download links quickly or leaving them off accordingly. Let me know if links are broken. Happy new year!

Previously: 2017 | 2016 | 2015

	Baby Ford – Ford Trax, 1988 download
	Brian Keane with Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Dinçer Dalkılıç, & Emin Gündüz – Süleyman The Magnificent OST, 1988 buy / download
	Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll, 1988 buy
	Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Session, 1988 buy
	Dead Can Dance – The Serpent’s Egg, 1988 buy
	Enya – Watermark, 1988 buy
	Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader, 1988 buy
	Fingers Inc. – Another Side, 1988 download
	Geinoh Yamashirogumi – Symphonic Suite AKIRA, 1988 buy / download
	Harold Budd – The White Arcades, 1988 buy
	Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man, 1988 buy
	Lorad Group – Sul Tempo, 1988 buy / download
	Maria Rita – Brasileira, 1988 buy / download
	Mary Margaret O’Hara – Miss America, 1988 buy / download
	Motohiko Hamase – #Notes Of Forestry, 1988 buy
	Nuno Canavarro – Plux Quba, 1988 buy / download
	Prefab Sprout – From Langley Park To Memphis, 1988 buy / download
	Prince – Lovesexy, 1988 buy
	Public Enemy – It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, 1988 buy
	Sade – Stronger Than Pride, 1988 buy
	The Sugarcubes – Life’s Too Good, 1988 buy
	Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden, 1988 buy / download
	Vangelis Katsoulis – The Slipping Beauty, 1988 download
	Womack & Womack – Conscience, 1988 buy
	Yoshio Ojima – Une Collection des Chainons I & II: Music For Spiral, 1988 download

Allez Allez – Promises, 1982

Ridiculously catchy Belgian new wave disco-funk. Bombastic, soulful vocals from Sarah Osborne; Martyn Ware production, of course. Not too much to say about this other than that it fills a dance floor very quickly. Good for fans of Liquid Liquid, ESG, Lizzy Mercier Descloux. I’m also including a bonus b-side from the single for “Valley of the Kings” called “Wrap Your Legs (Around Your Head)” which, uh, really slaps.

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[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 28

Here’s my most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. As I’ve mentioned before, our current political trashcan fire has left me feeling pretty sapped, so while this mix isn’t particularly high-concept, I wanted it to be a collection of songs that make me really happy, that feel light (though they’re not necessarily light in terms of subject matter). Highlights include sunny, sparkling Pakistani pop from Nazia Hassan and a gorgeous, Enya-tinged figure skating ballad with very lol lyrics from Sally Oldfield. You can download an mp3 version of it here. Sending love to anyone who needs it.

Tracklist:
1. Aretha Franklin – Daydreaming
2. Ame Strong – Tout Est Bleu
3. Mr. Twin Sister – Power Of Two
4. Nazia Hassan – Dum Dum Dee Dee
5. V.O. Mashisa (Dub)
6. Kid Creole & The Coconuts – I’m A Wonderful Thing, Baby
7. Al McCall – Hard Times
8. Lynsey de Paul – Strange Changes
9. Kimiko Kasai – バイブレイション (Love Celebration)
10. Asha Bhosle – Raat Jo Tune Deep Bujhaye Mere The
11. George Benson – Gonna Love You More
12. The Heptones – Black On Black
13. 川辺ヒロシ – キミトナラ
14. Sally Oldfield – Giving All My Love

Kimiko Kasai – Tokyo Special, 1977

A rare example of a Japanese jazz-fusion record that’s aged well. Kimiko Kasai is a jazz chanteuse and songwriter extraordinaire who’s worked with the likes of Stan Getz, Oliver Nelson, and Herbie Hancock (this record is killer if you’re into that sort of thing). Unlike a lot of Tokyo Special‘s contemporaries, the record isn’t front-loaded with single-worthy tracks but instead burns slowly and evenly, from its unhurried but brutally hooky start (“バイブレイション [Love Celebration],” written by Tatsuro Yamashita) to its rolling piano-jam finish (“待ってて [Laidback Mad Or Mellow],” written by Akiko Yano).

Kimiko’s vocals are terrific here, sometimes breathy and pillowy and elsewhere powerful and with admirable range. Even the obligatory slow jams are tastefully produced and never veer into cloying territory–I love “木もれ陽 (Sequoia Forest)” for its heady, misty backing harmonies, judicious use of chimes, and woodblocks that mimic birds and insects. Excitingly, you can hear the pre-city pop and AOR influences taking shape. If you don’t like smooth jazz fusion, I can’t help you. If you do, please step inside.

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[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 25: Summer Disco Special I

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a mix of some of my favorite disco, funk, soul, boogie, and house. It’s meant for a day at the beach, a barbecue, or attempting to persuade your hydrophobic dog to swim in a creek with you. I hope you like it! You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. Soul II Soul – Back To Life (Acapella)
2. Taana Gardner – Heartbeat (Club Version)
3. Mtume – Love Lock
4. Brenda & The Big Dudes – Weekend Special
5. China Burton – You Don’t Care (About Our Love)
6. Greg Henderson – Dreamin’
7. Double Vision – Clock On The Wall
8. Guardian Angel – Last Funk
9. Band Of Gold – Never Gonna Let You Go
10. Wish & Fonda Rae – Touch Me (All Night Long)
11. Dusty Springfield – Baby Blue
12. Stevie Wonder – Love Light In Flight
13. Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth For Christ Choir – Like A Ship (Without A Sail)