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.
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
My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a very slow and drippy soundtrack to snowmelt season. Normally this time of year I make mixes that are explicitly springy, full of bird sounds and optimism. I’m definitely feeling some optimism–I imagine most people are, after the grimness of the past winter. But it’s difficult not to feel a little suspicious of that impulse, when everything seems like such a wash. So: this mix is drippy, with a few small green things poking out, but there’s plenty of mud in it too. I hope you like it. You can download an mp3 version here.
Tracklist:
1. The Seekers – I’ll Never Find Another You
2. Sundari Soekotjo – Bengawan Solo
3. The Sweet Inspirations – Why Am I Treated So Bad
4. Mojave 3 – Love Songs On The Radio
5. Scott Walker – It’s Raining Today
6. Eileen Farrell – Beau Soir
7. The Crystals – Please Hurt Me
8. Esther & Abi Ofarim – Oh Waly Waly
9. Woo – It’s Love
10. Connie Francis – Half As Much
11. Barbara Lewis – Baby I’m Yours
12. Céline Dion – Falling Into You
13. John Foxx & Harold Budd – Stepping Sideways
14. Ziemba – Brazil
15. Gordon Fergus-Thompson – Suite Bergamasque: III. Clair De Lune
16. Craig Armstrong ft. Elizabeth Fraser – This Love
17. The Roches – Losing True
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
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
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!
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
My most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is an all 60’s special, which means that in addition to making a good case for the comeback of short songs, I was able to fit a lot into an hour. Featuring: a teenage Dolly Parton, a spaced out Joe Meek oddity, brutal heartbreak soul, a take on “Bend Me, Shape Me” that weighs a thousand tons, Peruvian garage rock, Ronnie Spector spitting pure rage at an unnamed man, an absolutely deranged Brian Wilson-produced version of “In The Still of the Night,” a cameo from the queen of rockabilly, an Indonesian Beegees cover, and of course, plenty of girl groups.
I love how 60s vocals sound as if everything is being sung with the caps lock on and too many exclamation points–they really grab you by the throat. I love how a song about a woman being disinterested in having sex manages to be anything but prudish or coy, and instead sounds like a venomous, gravelly diatribe delivered from somebody’s dirty basement. I love the unabashed melodrama and the blown-out, gritty production. I love how markedly less prim the musical ethos was than what preceded it, how much more raw and punk. This is one of my favorite musical eras and a lot of these songs make me cry–perhaps least explicably, “Egyptian Shumba,” which is still one of my all-time favorites–so I hope you enjoy this music as much as I do! You can download an mp3 version here.
Tracklist:
1. Lou Christie & The Tammys – Outside The Gates Of Heaven
2. The Exciters – Get Him
3. Timi Yuro – What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)
4. The Cookies – Softly In The Night
5. The Cats Meow – La La Lu
6. Little Frankie – I’m Not Gonna Do It
7. Claudine Clark – Party Lights
8. The Models – Bend Me, Shape Me
9. Screaming Lord Sutch – Don’t You Just Know It
10. Wanda Jackson – Fallin’
11. The Ronettes – He Did It
12. The Honeys – In The Still Of The Night
13. Joe Meek – Orbit Around The Moon
14. Rosie Lopez – I’ll Never Grow Tired
15. The Crystals – He’s A Rebel
16. Dream Team – There He Is
17. Los Saicos – Ana
18. The Ikettes – I’m Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)
19. The Tammys – Egyptian Shumba
20. Dara Puspita – To Love Somebody
21. Ben E. King – Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)
22. The Shannons – Little White Lies
23. Solomon Burke – If You Need Me
24. Dolly Parton – Gonna Hurry (As Slow As I Can)
Peerless genius. She brought us decades of joy and left us with a mountain of gold. If you didn’t grow up with Aretha (I didn’t) and are aren’t sure where to start with her enormous discography, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You is an easy entry point as it’s among the best ever made, but I might also suggest YouTube, as so many of her most electrifying moments are from her live performances. Here, here, here, here, and here are some ideal inroads. Thank you for everything, Aretha; you won’t be forgotten.
Note that I’ll be removing this download link soon.
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)
Following in the steps of Jorge Ben, who began incorporating elements of funk and soul into samba music in the early 60s (eventually creating whole new genres that became integral to Brazil’s Black Movement), Roberto Santos (aka Di Melo, “tell me”) didn’t enjoy the international name recognition that many of his more prolific peers did. Perhaps it’s because until 2016, Di Melo was his only full-length release. Still, if the measly two copies of the record currently available on Discogs with a starting price of $732.56 are any indication, the record has since attained its well-deserved holy grail status.
Santos was born in the Pernambuco region of Northeastern Brazil, moved to São Paolo in the late 60s, and was signed to EMI/Odeon in 1974. Other than that, I haven’t found much information about him, and it’s not totally clear why he didn’t continue to release music on the heels of Di Melo, as he’s written more than 400 unpublished songs. From what I gather, he was in a severe motorcycle accident in the 80s that almost left him a paraplegic, after which there were widespread rumors that he had not survived, which might have contributed to his long hiatus. There’s a short documentary about him here from 2011–though it doesn’t have English subtitles, it’s well worth flitting through even for non-Portuguese speakers for its amazing archival footage, as well as some beautiful contemporary footage of him serenading his small daughter in their kitchen.
Sonically, Di Melo is rich and complex, effortlessly winding between funk, samba, tango, jazz, soul, and regional folk. Hermeto Pascoal (!) contributes, though it’s not clear in what capacity. Eight of the twelve tracks are original compositions. It’s a wildly ambitious debut effort, and, as seems to often be the case with Brazilian musical wunderkinds, it succeeds at all of its efforts. I’m far from an expert on Brazilian music, so rather than make uninformed statements, I’ll encourage you to listen to it–it’s a pleasure from the enthusiastically syncopated, brutally grooving opener “Kilariô” (which, as I understand it, was the biggest hit at the time of Di Melo‘s release) all the way to the sunny, cowbell-flecked cakewalk closer “Indecisão.” In between, the unbothered, sinewy “Se O Mundo Acabasse En Mel” (previewed below) is my personal favorite. Ideal warm weather listening.
Thank you Silva for the reminder about this terrific record!
